Council left mother and nine-year-old daughter ‘scared’ in hostel with tenant who broke into their flat

A council left a woman and her nine-year-old daughter in a property with a smashed window for five days after their home was broken into by another tenant in their hostel.

Anne-Marie Dean, 34, was living in a Lewisham Homes temporary accommodation hostel at Sydenham Park Mansions when her flat was broken into on March 31.

Ms Dean and her daughter had been moved into temporary accommodation by Lewisham Homes because of a severe mouse infestation at their home in Arbuthnot Road.

The window had been smashed and the property broken into by another resident who was drunk because they could not access the main communal door, claimed Ms Dean.

She said: “I returned home to find the front door unlocked and the kitchen window completely broken.”

At around 11pm that night, Ms Dean claims the perpetrator attempted to get back in through her window while she was inside the property with her daughter.

Ms Dean said she called the police, when they arrived they questioned the woman who had tried to break in.

She said: “Me and my daughter felt so unsafe, threatened and intimidated. We are both now unable to sleep or focus properly. 

“The ordeal scared my daughter and was very traumatising for her. She is constantly having flashbacks of the night.”

Lewisham Homes said the incident had been reported to the police.

But Ms Dean claims no one from the housing association has carried out welfare checks on her or her daughter since the break in. 

Ms Dean called Lewisham Homes on April 4, but she broke down in tears expressing how unhappy she was and how scared her and her daughter were because the perpetrator was still in the hostel. 

She later received an email from Lewisham Homes that said she was expected to move back into her original address with her daughter as only two mice were found and removed which meant it was “habitable”.

They also mentioned that there was still one possible entry point for mice that would need filling.

Miss Dean moved into Lewisham Homes accommodation in 2011, and claimed that since 2013 she has complained to the council about damp, mould, security issues, loose wiring and daily anti-social behaviour by other tenants.

Miss Dean’s daughter was born in 2013 and suffered from recurring chest infections. She was put on a nebuliser and asthma pumps from the age of 4 months. 

Ms Dean said: “Living in the flat over all these years with lack of adequate space and poor living conditions caused me to feel neglected, unheard, unsafe, on edge, deflated, let down, anxious, constantly depressed, as if I’m losing my mind, extremely stressed on a regular basis.”

A Lewisham Homes spokeswoman said: “We are sorry that Miss Dean has felt unsafe in her temporary accommodation due to the behaviour of some of the other residents.

“We take such incidents seriously and the matter has been referred to the police.

“Our anti-social behaviour team has also been in touch with Ms Dean to keep her informed of progress.”

The Met have been contacted for comment.

Pictured top: Anne-Marie Dean, the broken window in Sydenham Park Mansions (Picture: Anne-Marie Dean)