Barnet (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Travonn St. Leonce who falsely claimed to be a football coach and victim of domestic abuse to secure council housing has been sentenced after pleading guilty to eight counts of fraud.
Travonn St. Leonce supported his home application with fictitious paystubs and bank statement manipulation.
He said that domestic abuse had caused him to become homeless, which would have put him in priority need and exempted him from the borough’s customary five-year connection requirement.
Due to his fraudulent claims, Barnet Council had to pay £2,078 for interim housing.
Investigators from the council, however, subsequently discovered that the property he claimed to have been evicted from was rented in his name. Landlords acknowledged that no one else was specified on the tenancy agreement, and the tenancy had expired in January 2024.
St Leonce would have been considered purposefully homeless if he had revealed that he had willingly terminated his rental in Hemel Hempstead.
He acknowledged in court that although he had never worked for QPR, he had fabricated paystubs to prove he was employed there in order to support his housing claim. He acknowledged that the application was fraudulent.
On Tuesday, September 30, he was sentenced in Willesden Magistrates’ Court and given a 12-month Community Order that included 180 hours of unpaid labor and a 15-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement.
In addition, he was mandated to pay £2,000 for prosecution expenses and £2,078 in reparation.
Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Homes & Regeneration, Cllr Ross Houston, said:
“This was a calculated attempt to exploit a system designed to protect the most vulnerable. Domestic abuse is an incredibly serious issue, and it is deeply troubling when someone fabricates such claims for personal gain.
I want to thank our officers for their diligence in uncovering the truth and protecting public funds. Barnet Council remains committed to ensuring that support reaches those who genuinely need it.”
What measures are Barnet Council implementing to prevent housing fraud?
Barnet Council is taking a number of strong steps to tackle housing fraud and keep housing stock for those who genuinely need it. The Council have a separate team called the Corporate Anti-Fraud Team (CAFT), that investigate any reports of tenancy fraud, including false applications, unlawful sub-letting, non-occupation of the property, fraud in succession, and Right-to-Buy fraud.
In 2024-2025 Barnet recovered 34 properties that were being used unlawfully, saving the council over £2.2 million in temporary accommodation costs.
The CAFT team handled a total of 841 cases relating to possible tenancy fraud increasing by 55% from the previous year, as well as verifying right-to-buy applications and conducting anti-money laundering checks.
