|
|
 |
| |
Dawn Carter with nine-month-old Oscar |
Hostel burglary spoils baby’s first Christmas
A HOSTEL for Camden’s most vulnerable families is dangerously insecure, according to a young mother whose first Christmas with her baby was ruined by burglars.
Conditions at the mother-and-children
wing of the council-run hostel in England’s Lane, Belsize Park, show “neglect” and “disregard for safety”, maintains Dawn Carter, 24.
She returned from a Christmas Day family outing with nine-month-old Oscar to find her bedsit burgled and her son’s presents stolen.
When the New Journal visited the temporary hostel for 160 families last Wednesday, the lock on the front door was broken and visitors could walk in unchallenged from the street.
The Victorian former nurses’ home, leased as temporary housing by the council in 2004, has been burgled on average once a month for the past three months, the council admitted last week. The lock has been broken since November.
Healthcare assistant Ms Carter said: “Christmas for Oscar, his first, was spoilt. Obviously, he doesn’t know what it all means but he could tell we were upset. They took his birthday money as well as our TV and an iPod.
“In all the time we’ve been here that door has been working properly for about a month, and the CCTV here is not working. This is a hostel for mothers and babies, but there are a lot of problems here, with people taking drugs and even dealing drugs, and people just walking in off the street.”
The England’s Lane hostel was sold by the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead in 1996 and bought by an offshore property company, Walbrook Trustees (IOM), for £24.1 million in 2005.
Camden Council, under pressure to meet government targets on homelessness, took out a 10-year lease on the building in 2004 at a net cost per year of £729,000.
On Monday, a council press official said the door-entry system was the responsibility of the landlord but 24-hour security had been hired for the building since the lock broke in November last year.
At £11.35 a hour, the cost of the overnight security guard will reach approximately £5,745 today (Thursday). The press official said: “We will be actively seeking to claim back this money from the landlord as it’s unfair that taxpayers should be forced to front the cost.”
Camden’s Lib Dem housing chief Councillor Chris Naylor said: “I am sorry to hear that a resident in one of our hostels was broken into.
“The security of all those living in our hostels is a top priority and we’re working hard with the landlord to fix the door system as quickly as possible. In the meantime, a security guard has been hired by the council. We will be seeking to recover the cost of the security guard from the landlord.” |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
