A little creative use of searching yields this as pretty much the only solution suggested besides getting a new camera.

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I managed to get it working again. Here's what I did.
Removed the film and battery (did this 10 times before with no results)
Removed all the case screws (used the opticians screwdriver from my Swiss Army Knife)
Loosened the case but unable to remove it.
Put the screws back in.
Shorted the + terminal in the battery compartment to the casing using a metal pen.
I also noticed the film cartridge indicator was not showing on any of the 4 positions so I used a small flathead screwdriver to turn the indicator to position 1.
Loaded the film.
Loaded the battery.
Film loaded and the camera is working for now.

I don't know which of the above actions fixed the camera but at least for the more adventurous among you there are some things to try (at your own risk). Good luck

Post any sucesses / failures you have here and we might narrow down a workable solution.