Prisoner Illegally Rented Out Her Council Flat While Pocketing Housing Benefit

Rajanee Brown (l) & Shevvanice Ruddock-Brown (r)

A prisoner serving a three-year sentence for a death crash, illegally sublet her council flat and continued receiving housing benefit while locked-up, a court heard.

Mother-of-two Rajanee Brown, 31, collected £13,300 in rent, plus £8,144 in housing benefit and council tax benefit while in HMP Bronzefield and HMP Downview.

At Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court last week she received eighteen months imprisonment, suspended for two years and must complete twenty days of rehabilitation and a six-month mental health treatment programme.

On the day of her trial she pleaded guilty to dishonestly sub-letting the flat between September 14, 2021 and September 23, 2022.

Brown received the London Borough of Wandsworth flat in Dalton House, Balham Hill in July, 2017 on condition it remain her main permanent home, give notice if she intended to spend over twelve weeks away and not sub-let.

However, in October, 2021 she was jailed after her conviction for causing death by dangerous driving when she crashed in the early hours after leaving a Battersea nightclub.

She collided with a coach on the opposite side of the road, killing passenger Aliyah Roach, a 24 year-old mother-of-one and has arrived at her various court appearances in a wheelchair.

Anticipating imprisonment, Brown rented the flat to a homeless male for £950 per month.

The estate manager did not see Brown for nearly two years and needed to get in touch.

“The estate manager received an email back saying Brown was in Manchester, looking after her grandmother,” said prosecutor Nick Ham.

“There is no evidence who sent the email. The inference is Brown either got access to email in custody or somebody on her behalf was doing it.

“Emails received from Brown and her ‘aunt’ said she failed to attend an interview because her grandfather had a terminal illness and there were also purported phone calls from Brown, but it is not known who made those calls.”

When Brown was quizzed about the sub-let on February 9, 2023 she made no comment, but in a statement claimed she told the estate manager she was going to prison and enquired about ‘caretaker’ arrangements.

“She said she was unaware the flat’s occupier was paying her rent and suggested the tenant was ‘muscling in’ on the property,” added Mr Ham.

The council are trying to claim back the losses through the civil courts and incurred £41,492 bringing the prosecution against Brown, who will not have to pay a penny of those costs.

Brown says most of the money went to her sister Shevvanice Ruddock-Brown, 33, who cared for her children, aged eleven and thirteen years-old, while she was in prison.

Ruddock-Brown was also charged with the illegal sub-let, but this was dropped by the prosecution.

“Her life was falling apart and she knew she was going to prison and had to make arrangements with her sister, who would need support for providing care,” said Joseph Sinclair, defending.

“She did not want her children going into care and these were the desperate, sad, unfortunate circumstances she found herself in.

“She left prison and had not engaged in further offending and has her life back on track. She is living on a precipice financially, has council rent and council tax arrears and £8,000 in credit card debt.”

Brown is currently unemployed and in receipt of Universal Credit.

Judge Georgina Kent said: “The arrangements to sub-let took place at a time when Brown would have been expressing remorse for her previous offence and was engaged in committing further offences.

“The estate manager received emails purporting to be from you that were deceitful and she was never informed by you that you would be away from the property,” the judge told Brown.

“This is a serious offence. Social housing is scarce and there are many people who need social housing who cannot get it and you sub-let your social housing for profit.

“This type of dishonesty has a serious impact on the community and at the time you were preparing for sentencing at this court and were informed how important it was not to commit offences.

“You have had a difficult personal life and sought to improve your life by gaining a teaching qualification, which you will be unable to use, due to these offences.

“Were you to go into custody now that would have a severe impact on your children.”