Grenfell fraudster jailed

A fraudster who claimed his father died in the Grenfell Tower tragedy to get his hands on emergency money and a free stay at a hotel which was meant for victims of the deadly fire has been jailed.

Just two days after the tragedy Mohammad Gamoota, 31, had told council officials that he had been living with his father on the 24th floor when the fire ripped through the building last June.

Gamoota pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud which had aimed to net him a total of £6,784.36 when he appeared at London’s Isleworth Crown Court.

He was jailed for 18 months on each count and the sentences are to run concurrently.

The flat in Grenfell Tower he claimed to have lived in never existed but Gamoota used the name of a man who died in the fire and had been named in the press as the backdrop for his fraud.

He claimed genuine fire victim Abdel Salam was his father. Gamoota had no connection with Mr Salam.

He posed as a resident of the gutted tower block between June 14 and July 29 and made representations to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to “dishonestly” gain money and accommodation, according to the charges.

He received £500 emergency money and asked for another £5,000 that was due to survivors.

He was given a room at the Holiday Inn from June 16 to 23 at a cost of £910 and he also enjoyed £374.35 in room service.