Court orders homeless woman to spend nights at railway station

A homeless woman in Rome, Italy, who has had several run-ins with police has been ordered to spend her nights at a train station in the city, as that was the only address she could give the court.



The 38-year-old homeless woman, named only as Laura, is regularly seen sleeping in the lobby of Trastevere railway station in central Rome. So when she was asked to give her official address to the authorities after a series of run-ins with police, it was the first place that came to mind.

As a result, Laura must now spend her nights at the station under “special surveillance” from 9pm until 7am in the interests of “public security”. Any attempt to go beyond the limits of the station could result in her immediate arrest.



But while the arrangement may have complied with the court’s bureaucratic requirements, staff at the station weren’t so impressed. When staff approached the woman to tell her to leave so that they could close the station down for the night, the woman took out a notice from the court requiring her to stay within the station at night.