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.
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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.
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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.”
