Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Less than 5% of claims paid for Windrush
Savannah moggie ‘living luxury life & terrorising our neighbourhood’
FEWER than 5% of claims over the Windrush scandal have been paid out, official figures reveal.
The Home Office said it has paid £362,996 to just 60 people, despite 1,275 claims made by March.
MPS have warned there is a risk of people dying before they get payouts.
Shadow Justice Secretary David Lammy said: “Thousands of black Britons had their lives ruined by their own government in the Windrush scandal. Today, we learn only 60 have received a penny of compensation. “This is a gross insult.” In 2018, many of the Windrush generation who came from the Caribbean in the 1940s, 50s and 60s were challenged over their status, despite living in the UK legally for decades.
WEALTHY homeowners fear an escaped big cat cornered by armed police this week is eating their pets.
The Beast of Billionaires’ Row was captured by officers earlier this week. But they let it go after an expert said it was a Savannah cat, a cross between a domestic cat and a serval.
Despite assurances it is not a danger to the public, residents in an affluent North London area are worried the animal has been gorging itself on pets and pigeons.
The cat has been on the prowl in Hampstead, close to The Bishops Avenue, known as Billionaires’ Row due to its mansions and rich occupants.
And Kate Blackmore, 35, from nearby
thinks the Savannah killed her kitten. She said: “We have had 10 visits from the Savannah cat. It scared one of my kittens away. That was three months ago, and the kitten didn’t come back. “Eight weeks later the kitten was found dead on the road. I have been looking for the Savannah cat for months now. It’s terrorising the neighbourhood.”
Kate, who also has two Bengal cats, hopes the Savannah, which has a cheetah-like print and can grow to two-and-a-half times the size of a normal moggy, can be caught soon.
She said: “It’s terrorising the local pets. My husband and I are worried about the safety of my cats. I want to grab it and rehome it.” She believes the Savannah has been living the high life in unoccupied mansions on the street.
“I’m sure it’s living in derelict houses on The Bishops Avenue. I’m sure it’s having a field day living up the life of luxury. I’m surprised it’s not bigger than it is already,” she added.
“I’m 1,000% certain it killed my kitten, so you can understand my rage towards the cat.
“It could be killing other people’s pets. We’ve got three dead pigeons in our garden.”
Animesh Misra, 20, who lives on The Bishops Avenue, said: “We have a two-year-old dog, and at night we let it off the leash outside. We don’t want it facing a cat like that. Hopehighgate, fully it returns to his owner soon.” Earlier this week tycoon Nirmal Sethia, 78, the man behind luxury tea brand Newby Teas, said police knocked on his door and asked to search the grounds of his property.
He said: “Police said it could be a cheetah. More and more started coming, about 12, then 15, 20.
“Most of them had guns, some had machine guns. Some had Tasers. The cat was hidden in the bushes and made its way along the back of my garden.”