CAMDEN COUNCIL HAVE LOST THEIR BID TO EVICT A WOMA

CAMDEN COUNCIL HAVE LOST THEIR BID TO EVICT A WOMAN WHOSE

SONS WERE ALLEGED TO HAVE CARRIED OUT A RACIST HATE CAMPAIGN AGAINST

AN ASIAN FAMILY.

MRS MARIA HAWKINS WEPT AS SHE LEFT COURT AFTER HEARING THE

JUDGE REJECT THE COUNCIL’S REPOSSESSION ORDER ON HER HOLBORN FLAT.

‘I’M SO RELIEVED – IT’S BEEN AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE THIS

WEEK,’ SAID DIVORCEE MRS HAWKINS, 46, BEFORE SHE WAS LED AWAY BY

SEVERAL FRIENDS.

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COUNCIL OFFICIALS WERE CLEARLY SHOCKED BY THE DECISION.

‘I’M VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED – WE TAKE RACIAL HARASSMENT

SERIOUSLY IN CAMDEN AND WHEN WE HAVE THE EVIDENCE WE TAKE PEOPLE TO

COURT,’ SAID COUNCILLOR BARBARA BECK, CHAIR OF THE BOROUGH’S RACE

COMMITTEE.

‘WE DID THE GROUND WORK ON THIS – I THOUGHT WE HAD A CAST

IRON CASE, AND I’M JUST VERY DISAPPOINTED,’ SHE ADDED.

MORE.

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RACE.

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2

DEMOLISHING THE ‘CAST IRON CASE’ JUDGE J.

BURKETT BAKER

REJECTED EVERY ITEM THEY HAD PRESENTED AGAINST THE HAWKINS FAMILY.

HE TURNED DOWN THE BOROUGH’S EVICTION BID ALTHOUGH HE

ACCEPTED THAT 17 YEAR OLD FRANK HAWKINS’ BEHAVIOUR HAD BEEN ‘RACIALLY

MOTIVATED AND INDEFENSIBLE’.

THE COURT HAD HEARD THAT FRANK HAWKINS PUNCHED A MEMBER OF

THE ALI FAMILY, SMASHED A WINDOW AT THEIR HOME AND RACIALLY INSULTED

AND ABUSED THEM ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS,

IN HIS RULING THE JUDGE SAID: ‘THE PURPOSE OF THE CASE IS NOT

TO MAKE A GENERAL STATEMENT ABOUT RACIAL HARASSMENT.

‘

BUT HE ADDED: ‘IN MY VIEW RACIAL HARASSMENT IN CONTEMPTIBLE

AND IS A POISON IN SOCIETY WHICH MUST BE PREVENTED.

‘

HE THEN SANK CAMDEN’S CASE ON THE GROUNDS THAT:

+ THE COUNCIL HAD FAILED TO FOLLOW ITS OWN PROCEDURES IN

APPLYING EXTRA TENANCY CONDITIONS – INCLUDING AN

ANTI-RACIST CLAUSE

+ THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE THAT MRS HAWKINS HAD BEEN INFORMED OF

THE NEW CONDITIONS

+ INCIDENTS OF RACIAL ABUSE AND HARASSMENT INVOLVING FRANK

HAWKINS HAD ONLY STARTED IN JUNE THIS YEAR AND DID NOT

AMOUNT TO ‘A CO-ORDINATED CAMPAIGN OF RACIAL HOSTILITY’.

+ MRS HAWKINS COULD NOT BE EXPECTED TO CONTROL ALL THE

BEHAVIOUR OF HER 17 YEAR OLD SON

+ MRS HAWKINS’ 1981 ASSAULT CONVICTION WAS OF NEGLIGIBLE

IMPORTANCE

+ AND THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF RACIST BEHAVIOUR ON HER PART

+ EVIDENCE FROM KEY COUNCIL WITNESS ABDUL ALI WAS ‘CONFUSED

AND UNRELIABLE’

+ MRS HAWKINS HAD COME TO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE COUNCIL OVER

HEATING BILL ARREARS.

REJECTING THE APPLICATION AND AWARDING COSTS AGAINST THE

COUNCIL JUDGE BAKER SAID: ‘IT HAS ALL THE FEATURES OF A HAPPILY

SHORT-LIVED BUT ON-GOING FEUD BETWEEN FRANK HAWKINS AND MEMBERS OF

THE ALI FAMILY AND THEIR FRIENDS.

‘IT IS THE KIND OF THING THAT DOES HAPPEN IN NEIGHBOUR

DISPUTES AND COULD WELL HAVE HAPPENED BETWEEN TWO OF THE SAME RACE’.

MORE.

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RACE.

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3

MR WILLIAM PANTON, FOR THE COUNCIL, HAD TOLD

CLERKENWELL COUNTY COURT THAT CAMDEN SHOULD BE SUPPORTED IN THEIR BID

TO EVICT MRS HAWKINS.

‘THE CORRECT COURSE IS TO SUPPORT THE COUNCIL SO THAT PEOPLE

LIVING ON THAT ESTATE ARE NOT ABUSED AND HARASSED BECAUSE OF THEIR

COLOUR OR RACE,’ HE SAID.

FRANK HAWKINS, AND HIS BROTHER, CHARLES, 26, WHO LIVE WITH

THEIR DIVORCED MOTHER IN BLEMUNDSBURY HOUSE, DOMBEY STREET, HOLBORN,

ARE SAID TO HAVE SPAT ON MEMBERS OF THE ALI FAMILY AND THEIR FRIENDS,

CALLING THEM ‘PAKIS’ AND ‘BLACK BASTARDS.

‘

AND THE COURT HEARD EARLIER THAT FRANK HAWKINS ALLEGEDLY

ASSAULTED A MEMBER OF THE ALI FAMILY AND SMASHED A WINDOW AT THEIR

HOME.

‘EVIDENCE ABOUT FRANK HAKWIN’S BEHAVIOUR IS QUITE CLEAR – WE

HAVE HEARD FROM A NUMBER OF EYEWITNESSES AND NONE OF THEM HAVE

SUGGESTED THAT THE ALI FAMILY STARTED ANY INCIDENT WITH FRANK

HAWKINS,’ ADDED MR PANTON.

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‘NOT A SINGLE ONE HAVE SUGGESTED THAT THEY IN ANY WAY

PROVOKED A FIGHT WITH FRANK HAWKINS,’ HE SAID.

REFERRING TO A FIGHT BETWEEN FRANK HAWKINS AND A MEMBER OF

THE ALI FAMILY MR PANTON SAID: ‘IT SHOULD NOT BE HELD AGAINST BLACK

OR ASIAN FAMILIES THAT IF THEY ARE ABUSED OR INSULTED THAT THEY DO

NOT ALWAYS RUN AWAY.

‘

REHOUSING THE ALI FAMILY ‘DID NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM.

‘

DURING THE HEARING MR PANTON WAS CRITICISED BY JUDGE J

BURKETT BAKER, QC, FOR REFERRING TO THE FAILURE OF COURT ORDERS IN

RETAINING THE NATIONAL PRESS.

‘THERE HAS BEEN NO MENTION OF THE NATIONAL PRESS IN THIS SO

FAR CALMLY CONDUCTED CASE, AND I DO NOT WANT TO START HEARING ABOUT

THEM NOW,’ SAID THE JUDGE.

ENDS.