How a homeless man lived for six weeks in Cambridge University library

A man managed to eat and sleep in a 24-hour Cambridge University library for six weeks after sneaking in undetected.

He was only found out when porters asked him to prove that he was a student. Users of the St John’s College working library reported that the man, believed to be homeless, never changed his clothes and would fall asleep and snore in the audio-visual room.

The visitor, described as a slim black man with dreadlocks in his thirties, came and went by “tailgating” college members entering the library with their key cards.

Big Issue sellers near the college said the man fitted the description of a local busker. The library is locked when not staffed but students can get in using their cards at any time.

The breach was reported in the university newspaper the Cambridge Student. Witnesses said the man was frequently seen flicking through books in the history section, using the computer and “trying to look busy”.

One student said: “He used to pace around. He brought Sainsbury’s bags in and ate in there, and never changed his clothes.”

Charlie Dowell, a first-year natural sciences student, said: “It’s very English that it took weeks of students complaining among themselves, but not to the right person, before he was kicked out.” Second-year medical student Casey Swerner said the man claimed to be working on a PhD on the topic of “how we perceive religious identity”.

A university spokesman said: “The presence of a male in the library was reported to the porters who asked him to leave when he was unable to identify himself as a student of the college. He has not been seen in St John’s subsequently.”

The intruder has highlighted the issue of homelessness in Cambridge. One shelter has reduced the number of temporary beds and one homeless man told the paper that there are not enough safe sleeping places in the city.