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Housing officer spared jail after cheating to find her sister a home
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent25 Jan 2011
A senior council officer who helped her sister leapfrog the housing waiting list wept as she was spared jail.
Anthea Barrett, 43, gave single mother-of-three Samantha Herbert a council flat upgrade by organising a swap with a retired couple who were moving from south London.
Barrett was sacked from her job of 20 years with Lambeth following a disciplinary hearing when the sham "mutual exchange" was exposed.
She has since been working part- time delivering meals-on-wheels.
Barrett, of Clapham, mouthed "thank you" as Inner London crown court Judge Mervyn Roberts handed her a three-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, plus 60 hours' unpaid work. He said: "I'm not going to pass an immediate sentence of imprisonment, but what you did was very stupid. You ruined what was clearly a sound and honest reputation that you had for many years and you have lost a great deal."
Civil proceedings have been ongoing to evict Herbert from the three-bed maisonette in West Norwood since October 2008, when she first moved in. William Walsh, prosecuting, said the council worker discovered unwitting couple Peter and Ann Holland were relocating from the maisonette to Great Yarmouth.
The sister's previous bid to get out of her two-bed flat in Streatham had failed and she saw this as a perfect opportunity to work the system. Mr Holland, 62, said Barrett approached him with a "sob story about a woman with three kids living in a property that was too small for her".
He agreed to help as long as it was "legal". The plan was to remain in London to tie up loose ends while his wife waited in Norfolk and then announce he was giving up the flat.
Barrett then altered the father-of-four's computer records to show his dependants had been reduced to one, to make it look as if he needed a downgrade. She also redirected his mail to the new uninhabited seaside property. But council letters were posted there and rental demands piled up unopened.
When Mr Holland found he was in arrears he complained to the council. Investigators discovered the family link and suspended Barrett. She was convicted of fraud by abuse of position and ordered to pay £1,500 costs.
Reader views (10)
What I don't understand is if you have a small property with children and you know that the chances of you getting a bigger bedroomed property (without family 'inside' help) if you have more babies are slim to none, then why pop more offspring out? Where is the practical or moral sense? It's the children who suffer at the hands of these selfish people.
- Kali, Glos, 26/01/2011 11:37
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By huggy's definition of custodial sentences for "incorrigible and persistent offenders" we could hope to see all criminal MPs doing time.
- peter doff, filey yorks, 25/01/2011 17:03
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Some 'housing officers' in some 'Local Authorities' are being 'used' to do the work that 'child protection professionals' should be doing!
Examine the 'working situation' in say..... Haringey Social Services??
- Darnthesafetynet, London W11 1NR, 25/01/2011 16:54
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Some 'housing officers' in some 'Local Authorities' are being 'used' to do the work that 'child protection professionals' should be doing!
Examine the 'working situation' in say..... Haringey Social Services??
- Darnthesafetynet, London W11 1NR, 25/01/2011 16:51
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Barry - bermondsey is what happens when both capital punishment and sterilisation is abolished.
- dom, london, 25/01/2011 15:13
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Other people enter the country on lies, someone even killed a British person but was allowed to stay, yet a hard working woman of twenty years gets in more trouble than had she defrauded the council of millions.
Her motive, helping her sister not herself, nor to make repeated huge profit like way too many present day MP's who make all these laws to over-punish the undeserving.
British so called justice, is getting more and more, distorted.
- Concerned Observer, Harrow, 25/01/2011 13:51
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It does seem a bit harsh to lock her up as if she's a danger to the public. Think i'll agree with Huggy on this one.
- AK, Haringey, London, 25/01/2011 12:55
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Now that's she's out of a job does she qualify for the housing list?
- Bob, Cheam, 25/01/2011 12:37
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This is what happens when the capital punishment is abolished. Statistics back this up.
- Barry from Bermondsey, Bermondsey - Centre of London, 25/01/2011 12:16
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Although this woman had to be made an example of, -I don't believe 'jail' should even have been considered as an option in a case like this.
Surely loss of career, a hefty fine, and (or) a severe community sentence would more than suffice, - in the current climate where we are told the jails are overcrowded or full.
To my mind, common sense would dictate that jails are reserved for violent criminals and incorrigible and persistent offenders ?
- Huggy, Cumbernauld Scotland, 25/01/2011 10:49
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