Earlier this month I wrote about the latest Grenfell fraudster to be brought before the courts. Abolaji Onafuye, 54, had claimed falsely that one of the victims of the blaze,k claimed Zainab Deen, 32, was his sister and that he had been staying with her. Onafuye was convicted on fraud by false representation at Isleworth Crown Court and was remanded for sentence.

Onafuye has now been sentenced and has been given a gaol term of five years. This latest Grenfell related fraudster managed to screw £33k out of the funds set up to help those afflicted by the Grenfell fire. He outrageously lied in court and claimed that Ramadan fasting was what made him commit the offence – Hmm! A likely story.

The Metro newspaper said:

A con artist who pretended to be a Grenfell survivor to dupe the council out of £33,000 has been jailed for five years. Abolaji Onafuye said he was ‘driven insane’ by fasting and it made him lie about living on the 11th floor of the tower block. The 54-year-old also said he was related to Zainab Deen who died in the blaze with her son Jeremiah, a court heard.

Onafuye claimed for accommodation and financial help worth around £33,000 from Kensington and Chelsea council and the charity Rugby Portobello Trust. This included a stay at the £190-a-night Grosvenor Hotel from June to October 2017 and the cost of temporary accommodation at Gorleston Street, the court heard. Onafuye denied two counts of fraud by false representation but was found guilty at Isleworth Crown Court on Tuesday. Judge Giles Curtis-Raleigh said Onafuye had shown no remorse for the scam and had even accused genuine victims of lying.

Onafuye is, to put it bluntly, absolute scum. He without any hint that he possessed a conscience, took advantage of the goodwill of others to garner himself benefits in the form of accommodation that he plainly was not entitled to. He didn’t even have the good grace to put his hands up to this fraud when apprehended. He continued his lies even after arrest, smearing genuine victims of the Grenfell disaster as ‘liars’. As for his excuse that fasting made him temporarily insane then this is something that is easily disproved. Lots of people fast, sometimes for religious reasons and some for medical reasons. Yes it has a negative effect on some individuals and can make them more likely to be angry or violent, but few of those who fast could honestly and truthfully claim that fasting made them ‘temporarily insane’.

The Metro newspaper added:

Judge Curtis-Raleigh said that even after his arrest in June this year, Onafuye continued lying, first by accusing residents of lying, then claiming at trial he had been suffering from temporary insanity caused by not eating during Ramadan. He added: ‘You denounced the genuine victims, the genuine occupants of 84 Grenfell Tower whose statement had been presented in that interview as liars and you have continued lying. ‘You have shown not a shred of remorse throughout these proceedings.’

I believe that the Judge is correct in their assessment of Onafuye’s behaviour. It was truly appalling and also believe that he thoroughly deserves his five year gaol term.