A family have been left devastated following the death of a homeless dad in the city centre
Floral tributes left near the Bridgewater Hall(Image: Manchester Evening News)
A family have told of their heartbreak after a homeless dad sleeping rough in Manchester city centre was found dead on Boxing Day morning. Anthony Horn was pronounced dead at the scene after his body was discovered on a walkway next to a canal near the Bridgewater Hall.
Friends said Mr Horn was one of a small group of homeless men who regularly slept under an overhang at the back of the concert venue. It’s thought the 47-year-old dad-of-one may have died from the cold.
Mr Horn, originally from Bury, had been homeless and estranged from his family for around eight to 10 years, his sister Linda Horn said. She described her brother as a ‘lovely lad’ but said he disappeared around a decade ago after experiencing ‘catastrophic heartache’.
She said: “We were really close when we were younger. He was generous and caring. He was lovely lad.
A forensic tent in place near the Bridgewater Hall(Image: @madd_manneh)
“He made everything into a joke. He was so funny – he’d make your sides ache with laughing. But he had a lot of heartache. I’d go as far as to say it was catastrophic and he just went off the rails.”
Ms Horn said she would often search the streets of Manchester looking for her brother, but never found him. She added: “He came to see his son, then just went off the radar. We tried to find him.
“I would walk round Manchester asking people, leaving my number with soup kitchens, but we just couldn’t find him. He was just all over the place. We think he moved down south for a while.
“But there wasn’t a day went by when I didn’t think about him.”
Mr Horn’s friend, Anthony O’Brien, who had also been sleeping rough over Christmas, said he had known him for around 10 years. “He was a really good lad”, he told the M.E.N.
“He loved his football, it’s a shame for him to go the way he went. Me and my wife were out here Christmas night and it was absolutely freezing.”
Tributes have been left at the scene for Anthony Horn(Image: Manchester Evening News)
The temperature fell to around 4C before dawn on Boxing Day, according to data from the Whitworth Observatory. Greater Manchester Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death – which is not being treated as suspicious.
A blue police tent was in place at the rear of the concert venue for most of the day on Boxing Day following the discovery. Tributes have been laid at the scene, with several bouquets of flowers placed at a sheltered area of path, not far from the water.
A card from the Mr Horn’s family read: “Rest in peace son. So sorry you didn’t reach out. You will always be in our heart.”
A spokesperson for GMP said previously: “Officers were called to reports of a body near Bridgewater Hall a 9.30am this morning (December 26). Sadly, the male was pronounced dead at the scene. It is being treated as non-suspicious and enquiries remain ongoing.”
Ms Horn said she was awaiting confirmation from the coroner, but said at this stage it’s thought her brother died ‘mainly due to the freezing conditions’.
She added: “I went last night to see where he passed. It’s really hard to think that he died there like that.
“It’s hit us really hard. Anthony had issues, he really did, but he didn’t deserve to die like this.
“I’m upset, not just for my brother, but for everyone else [all the other homeless people] I saw last night. It’s heart-breaking.
“It shouldn’t be happening, but it’s the way of the world now. But the thing is Anthony knew where we all lived. He could have come home at any time, but unfortunately he didn’t.”