Burglar lied about living in Grenfell to dodge jail
A CRIMINAL avoided jail after lying to a judge that he was living in Grenfell Tower and his flatmate died in the blaze, a court heard yesterday.
Burglar Derrick Peters’ plea was so moving that the judge told the court: ‘How can one even begin to understand what it is like to lose a friend in a tragedy like Grenfell?’
Peters, 58, pocketed more than £45,000 in public aid by pretending he had survived the blaze which killed 72 last year.
The conman, who had 40 previous convictions, told community workers two weeks after the blaze that he was living in Grenfell with his friend Steve Power.
Mr Power was a genuine resident who died, while his daughter Rebecca Ross escaped.
Peters was put up in a four-star hotel for six months by Kensington and Chelsea Council at £192 per night. He racked up a £5,200 bill on drinks, food and laundry.
But during his stay at the Park Grand in Paddington, West London, Peters burgled a nearby flat.
He stole a £3,000 TAG Heuer watch, jewellery, a passport, an Apple laptop and a Bose speaker. Police discovered some of the items in his hotel room when they arrested him last August.
Peters, born on the Caribbean island of Dominica, pleaded guilty to burglary at Westminster Magistrates’ Court the following week.
He was remanded in custody in Wandsworth Prison for two months prior to his sentencing hearing. Despite this, the council continued to pay the bill for his hotel room.
While in prison, Peters wrote a letter to the judge asking for leniency – claiming that he had been a Grenfell Tower resident.
During the hearing in October, his lawyer also pleaded for leniency and said Peters had started taking Class A drugs again as a result of what he experienced.
Judge Simon Davis accepted the mitigation and ordered him to serve an 18-month community order
‘Designed to con the judge’
instead of jail, telling the court about the death of Peters’ friend.
But Mr Power’s daughter Rebecca later told police that Peters had never lived with them.
Peters’ claims emerged at Isleworth Crown Court yesterday when he pleaded guilty to perverting the court of justice and two counts of fraud. The council first became suspicious because the flat number he claimed to be staying in did not exist. Despite concerns over his story, Peters was offered a council flat which he accepted.
However, before he could move in, investigators realised he was lying and evicted him from his hotel room. Peters was subsequently traced to a house in Gloucester where he was arrested last month.
Prosecutor Ben Holt told the court: ‘Peters does not have any links to Grenfell Tower. He did not stay there. The representations he made to receive accommodation and subsistence were false.
‘The mitigation was also false. It was designed to con the learned judge into passing a more lenient sentence.’ Mr Holt read out a statement from Edward Daffarn, a genuine survivor, who said he had been left ‘sickened’.
‘It is upsetting beyond words to know the tragedy of Grenfell Tower is being used by individuals so that they can exploit our misery for their own gain,’ he said. ‘It pours salt on the wounds of ex-residents.’
Judge Robin Johnson added: ‘I can hardly think of a fraud which would meet with greater revulsion.’
Peters has 40 previous convictions for 90 offences, including 24 for fraud and 49 for theft.
He will be sentenced today.