Jam heads to capital following eviction

Controversial gardener Jam Imani Rad will say farewell to Preston on Monday.
Photo Neil Cross
Jam Imani Rad has spent years turning his council flat into a wacky den of his artPhoto Neil Cross
Jam Imani Rad has spent years turning his council flat into a wacky den of his art
Photo Neil Cross Jam Imani Rad has spent years turning his council flat into a wacky den of his art

The 67-year-old former teacher is being evicted from his flat in Harrington Street after landlord Community Gateway Association (CGA) secured a court order five weeks ago.

It comes after Mr Rad was found guilty of headbutting CGA repairs manager when staff arrived to remove unauthorised parts of the communal garden he has installed, following a court order.

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Last year he was also found guilty of using abusive language to CGA staff and breaching an order not to carry out any more landscaping.

He told the Post that he had found new accomodation in London thanks to a fellow Iranian who had seen him on television discussing the garden area he spent £6,000 on without gaining permission.

Mr Rad said: “I have a strange feeling. I am happy that I finally found a place to live in London and I will not be thrown in street and on the side.

“But I am very sad. Preston was my home, I loved it probably more than the people who were born here. The best 19 years of my life were spent in this town and my best friends are here, so I leave my heart in Preston and I take my body to London.”

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He said he wants his ashes to be returned and spread in Preston - in the Harrington Street garden if it still exists at that time.

He said he forgives Gateway for evicting him, but urges them not to destroy any landscaping work or the ceramic artwork inside the flat.

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