[MargaretR]

I don't recommend taking a stranger in - I once did just that.
My then partner asked if we could take in a young chap he knew from snooker playing in our local W M club, for a short time until he found a flat or bedsit.
I agreed - he arrived with a carrier bag of dirty washing.

He moved into our spare room and ate with us. I told him that we did not require payment for the few days he would be with us, but since he said he was an unemployed painter and decorator, he could strip the wallpaper in his room so that it would be ready for redecoration after he left.

During the first day I gave him the Yellow pages and the phone to ring around local landlords. He didn't seem capable of doing that. So I began to search for him and arranged appointments for him to view bedsits and drove him to view them. The 1st one he said was too dirty. The second one 'doesn't have a washing machine, where would I do my washing?' This statement, and his odd behaviour generally aroused my suspicions. My enquiries revealed that he was on long term sick with schizophrenia and his parents lived locally.
He sat all day staring at the Tv or a blank wall and never did strip the bedroom walls.

On the evening of the 5th day I told him that he would have to leave and that I would send him to his parents address in a taxi the next morning. He meekly accepted it --- meekness, helplessness (symptoms)--I felt a cad but my knowledge of schizophrenia meant that I did not feel safe with him in my home.

I stayed awake all night that night sitting with a kitchen knife ready in case he took a turn.
I sometimes see him around locally and he looks healthy- thankfully