A London council which left an elderly woman ‘a prisoner in her own home' has been ordered to pay £10,000 in compensation to the family. Havering LBC also faces the prospect of further claims for compensation after it was ordered to review all similar re-housing applications over the past five years. Local government ombudsman, Tony Redmond, found the council guilty of maladministration, causing injustice, after investigating the case of an 86-year-old resident referred to as ‘Mrs Oak'. Havering failed to consider her housing needs and human rights. ‘Mrs Oak', who was partially-sighted, deaf and suffered from bronchial asthma and arthritis, lived with her daughter and grand-daughter in a second-floor three-bedroom maisonette. A council officer visiting in January 2003 described her as ‘practically a prisoner in the home'. However, she remained in the property five years longer than necessary and died before her family were re-housed. A council spokesman said: ‘We deeply regret the mishandling of ‘Mrs Oak's' housing application. We are confident that this situation could not happen again.'
