A man who lied about helping victims of the Grenfell Tower fire to escape the blaze has been jailed for fraud.
Alvin Thompson, 51, claimed he had been sleeping rough in the North Kensington tower block for two years and was sleeping in the stairwell of the fifth floor when the fire started on June 14 2017.
He claimed he had woken up to people shouting and the smell of smoke before helping scared residents to escape from the tower block.
Thompson approached the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council with his story the following month and went to his doctors for evidence that would back up his claims.
He told doctors that he had recurring nightmares of seeing a small child at a window in the fire, flashbacks to stepping over bodies and survivor’s guilt - and was subsequently diagnosed with extreme PTSD.
Thompson was given hotel accommodation and financial assistance before later being allocated permanent housing in March 2018.
The total value of the fraud including hotels costs, financial handouts and his new home, which he requested was painted and re-carpeted to his specification, amounted to more than £95,000.
An investigation found that banking transactions and passport records showed Thompson had links to an address in Archway, north London, throwing into doubt his claim that he was homeless and living in Grenfell Tower.
Mobile phone evidence also showed that in the months before the fire Thompson’s phone did not register overnight in the vicinity of Grenfell Tower, and instead showed that he frequented north London.
CCTV footage did not capture him either entering the tower at any point in the preceding two weeks, or fleeing from the fire on the night.
Thompson was found guilty of two counts of fraud at Isleworth Crown Court on Wednesday and was today sentenced to five years and six months for the first count and four years for the second count, to be served concurrently.
DC Lisa Cook, of the Met Police, said: “Anyone who attempts to profit from the tragedy that occurred at Grenfell Tower can expect to be punished to the full extent of the law.
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“Thompson’s behaviour was despicable; he showed complete disregard for the suffering of those who lost their lives, and their families.
"Now he will have plenty of time in prison to think about what he has done.”
