Wandsworth riot eviction threat mother can stay in home

Maite de la Calva was faced with eviction following her son's involvement in the riots

The mother of a teenage boy jailed for looting during August's riots has been told she can stay in her council home.

Maite de la Calva had been threatened with eviction after her son Daniel Sartain-Clarke, 18, broke into a Currys store in Clapham Junction in London.

He was jailed last week for 11 months after admitting burglary.

Following a meeting with Wandsworth Council, his mother and her daughter will now be allowed to stay at their home in Battersea.

During a meeting on Thursday, Ms de la Calva gave a series of assurances to the council that she would do nothing which interfered with the "convenience" of other residents in the future.

'Beggars belief'

Previously, Ms de la Calva said her family were being used as scapegoats and she was not responsible for her son's actions.

A council spokesman said: "The tenant, who was accompanied by a representative from Liberty, gave us a number of specific assurances that have allayed our concerns about any repeat of this criminal behaviour.

"She has also given us concrete promises that there will be no further breaches of her tenancy agreement.

"We have been promised that we will receive these assurances in writing. Once these are received we will consider this matter formally closed."

Ms de la Calva's lawyer Emma Norton said: "Wandsworth Council has finally seen sense and we're delighted Maite and her daughter aren't facing a future without a roof over their heads."

But Ms Norton, of civil rights group Liberty, added: "The appalling and heartless way the authority threatened this innocent family with eviction in the first place still beggars belief."