Grieving father thrown out of Hackney home after daughter’s death
A grieving father struggling to come to terms with the loss of his teenage daughter, who was fatally stabbed in the head, has suffered more heartbreak after finding himself homeless.
Raouf Sheriff, 38, has been forcefully evicted from his flat in Malvern House, Stamford Hill, which he shared until recently with 16-year-old Julie.
She died on September 21 following months in a coma after suffering fatal head injuries in Battersea in May.
A 15 year-old girl, who cannot be named, is due to stand trial at the Old Bailey on January 23 accused of murdering the Hackney teenager with a steel afro comb.
Mr Sheriff moved with his daughter from Sierra Leone hoping for a better life.
You may also want to watch:
But the former policeman spoke of his distress and humiliation after the Home Office withdrew the accomodation it provided for him through housing manager ClearSprings.
He lost his right to the flat after the UK Border Agency granted him leave to stay.
Most Read
- 1 "Heartless" Joshua White killers jailed for life
- 2 Broken De Beauvoir Estate lift saw man "bump" wife in wheelchair down stairs
- 3 Three men who went on stabbing spree in Hackney convicted of murder
- 4 Hackney Rabbi campaigns with Idris Elba, Ed Sheeran, Lewis Hamilton and others to Never Forget Stephen Lawrence
- 5 ‘We are still human’: homeless households speak out over living conditions
- 6 "Outcry" over fortnightly rubbish collection in Stamford Hill
- 7 Hackney police commander calls on community to "play its part" in crime prevention
- 8 Hackney volunteers tend to Overground station gardens
- 9 "Predator" jailed after sexually assaulting sleeping woman on Hackney bus
- 10 Calls for black women's voices to also be heard in light of Sarah Everard death
But Mr Sheriff, who also has a three-year-old daughter who visits at the weekend, said he had been busy with burial arrangements and didn’t know he would have to leave so quickly.
“I am going through this hell already and then they take my home,” he said.
He is sleeping on friends’ sofas as town hall bosses consider his housing plea. He was offered emergency housing but turned it down.
A UK Border Agency spokesman said it had already given Mr Sheriff’s family extra help and dealt with his case compassionately.
“Mr Sheriff was advised to speak to his local authority about his accomodation needs and there should have been no need for him to become homeless,” he said.
ClearSprings failed to comment by the Gazette’s deadline. A spokesman for the town hall said: “Those under threat of forceable eviction should contact the council or their local Citizen Advice Bureau for information.”