London Riots: Council eviction looter is jailed
- Published
Daniel Sartain-Clarke arrived for sentencing with his girlfriend J-Nell Starkel
A man whose mother was threatened with eviction from her council home when he was caught looting during the London riots has been jailed for 11 months.
Christian Daniel Sartain-Clarke, 18, of Battersea, was caught in a Currys store in Clapham Junction last August.
His barrister Guy Bowden said he had become "a poster boy" for the riots and had already suffered because his family faces eviction.
Two other men were jailed for 20 months.
Simon Rodney, 31, of Gosling Way, and Timothy Rodney, 30, from Brixton, had been arrested at the same time.
All three appeared at Inner London Crown Court and admitted burglary.
Wandsworth Council said Sartain-Clarke's actions were a "clear and unequivocal breach" of tenancy conditions of his home in Francis Chichester Way.
During the August riots he was discovered by police in the stockroom of the badly damaged and ransacked shop two hours after it was broken into by others.
Jailing the teenager, Judge Ian Darling said it was one of the "most tragic" cases he had come across because there was nothing in his background to explain why he would "seize the opportunity" to steal.
'Helper and doer'
He said: "You are a committed Christian and an aid worker.
"I have reams of references attesting to you. You are a helper and a doer.
"This is as out of character as it's possible to imagine," he added.
Wandsworth Council said his mother, Maite De La Calva, 43, would be invited to attend an interview to discuss "her side of the story".
Simon Rodney, 31, of Gosling Way, and Timothy Rodney, 30, of Clarewood Walk, had previous convictions.
Simon Rodney has 11 convictions for 22 offences including robbery and burglary.
In 2001 he was jailed for seven years after tricking his way into a victim's house by posing as a policeman.
His brother has five convictions for 11 offences and was jailed for five years in the 1990s for possessing a firearm and ammunition.