Grenfell Tower: Man jailed for £75,000 handouts fraud

Daniel Steventon falsely claimed he flat-shared in Grenfell Tower

A man who said he lived with one of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire so he could claim £75,000 of handouts has been jailed.

Daniel Steventon, 37, of Brondesbury Villas, Kilburn, was put up in a hotel for eight months after claiming he flat-shared in the west London block.

In a statement to Isleworth Crown Court, the victim's family said he had "tainted the grieving process".

Steventon was jailed for three-and-a-half-years after he admitted fraud.

The pharmacist technician had previously pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation.

Steventon claimed he had lost his home shortly after the disaster on 14 June 2017, which killed 72 people.

Between August 2017 and May 2018, Kensington and Chelsea Council spent £54,099 to put up him up in the Mercure Kensington Hotel.

They also covered a food allowance of £14,310 and £6,876 in bank payments.

Following sentencing, John Gardner, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said no-one living in the tower "had ever seen or heard" of Steventon and he had taken funds "that should have been directed to the genuine victims".

"His fraud was calculated and left the family of the deceased victim in pain," he said.