Legal News

The dubious distinction of being the first man to be sentenced for squatting has gone to Alex Haigh, a 21 year old man who had come to London seeking work and had occupied a flat without permission.
Haigh originally from Plymouth was arrested at a flat in Pimlico, central London, under the government’s anti-squatting legislation and was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison after pleading guilty to occupying a housing association flat without permission.
The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that Haigh was the first person to have been given a custodial sentence under section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, which had come into force on the September 1.
West London magistrates heard that police officers had gone to the flat in Cumberland Street on 2 September in search of another man. They arrested three people, one of whom was Haigh, on suspicion of squatting and all three have been convicted; the other two are awaiting sentence.
Squatting in residential premises has been made a criminal offence under the new law. The critics have warned that it may trigger a surge in homelessness as squatters were forced on to the streets in order to avoid a criminal record.
The squatters' rights group Squash (Squatters' Action for Secure Homes), which campaigned against criminalisation, condemned the sentencing as "deeply disproportionate and unjust". It said the building the men were occupying had been empty for more than a year.
Haigh's father, Hugh, told the Evening Standard newspaper that his son, an apprentice bricklayer, had come to London in July seeking work. Now the law has made an example of him he said.
He added that putting someone in a prison environment especially who had not done anything serious enough was beyond comprehension. If he had broken law he should be dealt with but it was like putting someone who had not paid their taxes into the Dartmoor prison.
Rueben Taylor, from Squash, said this was a ‘D’ day for the country as young and vulnerable person was being sent to prison just because he was trying to keep a roof over his head.
The real crime was that 930,000 properties were sitting empty across the UK, not the people who were bringing these back into use. This crazy law was aggressively punishing the victims of country’s housing crisis, at massive cost to the taxpayer.
Under section 144, squatting in England and Wales is punishable by up to six months' jail and fines of up to £5,000. The change in the law does not affect commercial premises.
In a circular sent to judges, courts and the police, the Ministry of Justice confirmed that what were previously known as "squatters' rights", preventing forcible entry to an occupied building, would become redundant in relation to residential premises.
Squash claims the cost of criminalising squatting will be as high as £790m over the next five years.