EXCLUSIVE Foreign squatters who took over pensioner's home are FINALLY kicked out: Suspected 'Romanian' teenage ringleader pleads guilty as it emerges woman had been stealing from local charity shops

Daily Mail​

6 hours ago

A gang of suspected foreign criminals who seized the home of a frail pensioner have finally been booted out after the woman's plight was raised by MailOnline.
For the last two months a horde of alleged squatters have been running riot at the £590,000 terraced home in Chingford, north east London.
It's believed Eastern European crooks 'deliberately' targeted the three-bedroom property while the woman, who is in her 80s, was visiting a 102-year-old friend.
Despite outrage from neighbours and the elderly woman's home being in the hands of strangers, the Metropolitan Police initially refused to kick the group out, amid months of seeming confusion over whether it was a civil or criminal issue.
But within days of MailOnline breaking the news about the fiasco, officers took 'decisive' action and removed the gaggle of home invaders.
It comes as it can today be revealed one of the women involved with the group has been accused of stealing from a charity shop, with police confirming a teenager had been arrested on suspicion of theft after failing to appear at court.
A 'large number' of police swooped on the property on Friday morning, arresting a 19-year-old woman, while other occupants were told to leave.
Police have since served an eviction notice and the 'horrified' homeowner has now regained the property but has since suffered a serious health condition.
When MailOnline visited the scene yesterday, all her furniture had been removed and piled up in her front garden amid claims it had been trashed by squatters.
The news comes as fresh claims today emerged one of the gang's suspected ringleaders had terrorised a charity shop, allegedly trying to steal a £7 pack of plates.
The woman - thought to be of Romanian descent - is said to have tried to snatch the floral set of bowls from a nearby British Heart Foundation outlet, with one worker at the store branding the act 'disgraceful'.
Police said a 19-year-old arrested on suspicion of squatting was also arrested and charged on Friday with failing to appear in court in relation to a previous theft offence.
She appeared at Colchester Magistrates' Court on Saturday where she pleaded guilty to theft. She will be sentenced at a later date.
A spokeswoman for the Met added: 'On Friday, June 20 at 10.40am, police attended an address in Chingford following reports of squatting.
'Officers had been working with the local Safer Neighbourhood Teams and in partnership with the local authority to resolve this issue and support the property owner.
'A 19-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of squatting in a residential building and immigration offences. She has been bailed pending further enquiries.
'She was also served an eviction notice and formally evicted from the property.
'The owner was informed and the property was secured by officers.
'Officers continue extra patrols in the local area following this matter and while further enquiries are carried out.'
Former Conservative Party Leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who is the local MP, slammed the shameless squatters, branding them 'scum'.
He has since written to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper demanding a change in the rules around squatting and to give police greater powers to step in.
'I am very pleased that the police have taken action at last and these "squatters" have finally been kicked out and some arrested,' Sir Iain said last night.
'This was not the only property that they and others have occupied causing mayhem in our area but it has illustrated how appalling the official response is.'
Speaking before the group was finally removed from pensioner's home, the former minister raged it was both 'absurd' and 'astonishing' they had not been evicted sooner.
'They're scum,' Sir Iain previously told Mail+. 'It's the only thing you can say about them.
'This whole thing is organised - it's an organised crime... [but] trying to get police to take action on this is completely astonishing.'
The elderly homeowner, understood to be a widowed mother, was forced to live with family in the West Country, after having suffered a serious health condition following the ordeal.
She is now trying to rebuild her life, with relatives and neighbours having helped to clear her home after it was finally taken back by the authorities.
When MailOnline visited the scene, large piles of furniture could be seen stacked outside the elderly woman's humble three-bedroom terraced home.
The furniture is believed to have been left filthy and caked in grim by the gang of alleged foreigners and now needs to be dumped.
One source, involved in the effort to remove the group after the pensioner's plight was revealed by MailOnline, said: 'I'm still just aghast at what has gone on over the past few months and how [the woman] will be able to recover from this.
'I can only imagine that it will never feel like home again, [it's] completely hideous.'
Locals living in the street claimed up to 25 people would cram into the house after seizing it - including a number of children.
Videos seen by MailOnline show a large number of people gathering outside the home in the weeks after it had been taken control of.
It's thought the squatters were from Eastern Europe. As well as allegedly seizing the property, the group of unwanted house occupiers also caused mayhem in the street.
'They would throw rubbish, thieve from the shop, urinate on people's walls, loud noise until 1/2am in the morning,' one neighbour said last night. 'They were always stealing.
'We're here and we're scared to leave the house. We don't want to go on holiday. This needs to stop. The law needs to be changed.'
Another person, who has lived in the street for about 15 years and knows the elderly woman, described the city suburb as 'quiet'.
But when the squatters moved in, things descended into chaos.
'it was a nightmare all around for all the neighbourhood here,' said the neighbour, who asked not to be named.
'Mostly it was the neighbourhood noise, the stereo was always on and the windows were open.
'Children were playing with their bikes and balls in and out with cars moving. Accidents could have happened for them.
'They were not really educated because they would pee in a corner and throw their rubbish in the alleyway.
'When my son and daughter came back after work at midnight they noticed two or three times the children were playing out at midnight, and talking with their families through the windows inside.'
Locals said those living in the house had claimed to have a tenancy agreement saying they can stay there. However, this was disputed, with Sir Iain branding the claim 'total rubbish'.
The fiasco sparked outrage among neighbours, with one 63-year-old fuming: 'They're taking the p***. This elderly woman has worked so hard for this country and paid her taxes and now this has happened... It's f***ing outrageous.'
MailOnline understands Conservative councillors at Waltham Forest Council, alongside Sir Iain, had raised the alarm with senior police chiefs over the incident - writing to the Met's commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley.
Catherine Saumarez is the local councillor and has been dealing with the incident for months.
She fears a 'churn' in the number of police sergeants covering the area had led to 'loopholes' which are being 'exploited' by gangs.
Tory Cllr Saumarez, who represents the Larkswood ward, said since being elected in 2018 she has seen 'six police sergeants' come and go.
She has questioned why police were 'all ready to wash their hands' of dealing with the squatters at first - before then 'coming in mob handed' after the issue was reported by MailOnline.
'What was shocking was the complete lack of proactive policing,' she said last night.
'People are outraged. It's a real sense of the violation...you expect the police to look after you when you need it... [but] as far as policing is concerned, there has been a complete dereliction.'
She feared criminal gangs were seizing on the seeming confusion over what was a civil and criminal offence - and the constant 'churn' of senior neighbourhood cops.
'It's so clear this loop hole is known about and is being exploited. The more it gets known about it will only get worse. People are now worried they will lose their homes.'
She added: 'We have had a huge amount of churn in our social neighbourhoods police.
'I've had six sergeants during my tenure of seven years and I've not even met some of them.
'That's of course going to have a knock-on effect. There needs to be some stability.'
Speaking to MailOnline, one man living on the street said the squatters left locals 'paranoid' and fearing for their homes.
'They have been here since April,' the man, who asked not to be named, said.
'There has been trouble. Apparently there's a lot of people in there and a lot of children.'
A woman added: 'There's two old ladies either side [of the house] and they are kept up every night with loud music and doors slamming.
'It has been reported to the police and they said they can't do anything. When [the elderly woman] does go back, how can they live there?
'They are not even hiding that they are squatting. They just don't care.'
News of the frail homeowner's plight also outraged MailOnline readers, with more than 11,000 people backing calls for police to be given tougher powers to deal with squatters.
Sir Iain had been fighting to try and remove the group since the beginning of May, regularly liaising with the police.
But the former Tory minister said he had been left stunned by the seeming inaction from authorities to kick the group out.
The Chingford and Woodford Green MP claimed confusion over whether the squatters' actions constituted a civil or criminal breach had effectively paralysed authorities.
He said the Met had refused to take action in the belief it was a civil breach - while 'complexities' and delays in arranging a court order to remove the occupiers had left the pensioner effectively homeless for months.
The MP added: 'There's no question I think [the squatters] broke in, which is an offence, and squatting in a residential building which is occupied - that's an offence.'
Squatting is when someone deliberately enters property without permission and lives there, or intends to live there.
Under UK law, it is illegal to squat in a residential building such as a flat or house. It carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison, a £5,000 fine - or both.
However, when someone originally enters a property with permission of the landlord, it is not squatting - for instance those who have a rental or tenancy agreement.
Although squatting in non-residential building or land is not in itself illegal, it is a crime to damage the property.
And it's usually a crime not to leave land or property when you're instructed to do so by the homeowner, police, the council or through a repossession order.
There is a similar offence dubbed 'cuckooing', which is when a home is taken over by a group - often criminals - while the resident is still living there.
There have been instances of drug dealers forcing their way into homes of disabled or vulnerable residents before setting up a narcotics factory there.
Cuckooing has recently been made a criminal offence as part of the Government's new Crime and Policing Bill. It followed an amendment to the legislation, put forward by Sir Iain.
However, the Tory MP claimed the law still needed to be toughened up to stop crime gangs from seizing homes.
'The law is too soft and too vague on this,' he added. 'Here we have something that's meant to be an offence but police don't get involved because it's under the civil code.'
Speaking of the effect the ordeal has had on the elderly woman, Sir Iain added: 'The impact on her has been profound as it would be on anybody.
'But for someone of her age, the impact would be even greater.'
When MailOnline approached those living in the home in Chingford earlier this month, a woman claimed she had spoken to police who had told her 'everything is good'.
After being asked about allegations squatters had moved into the home, the woman said: 'I am still awaiting a response from the police.'
Pressed on claims they had kicked out the elderly woman to squat in the home, she added: 'The police said everything is good.
'They said it's all fine. We don't speak anymore. Nothing is happening and it's fine.'
Waltham Forest Council is now in contact with the elderly homeowner.
A spokesman added: 'We would like to commend the Metropolitan Police for taking decisive action in addressing this issue.