Race abuse family are kicked out of home

Published on Friday 11 September 2009 10:08

A FAMILY accused of a campaign of racial abuse and harassment against their neighbours have been evicted from their Edinburgh council flat in one of the first cases of its kind in Scotland.

Sarah Hutton, 36, and her children were said to have been responsible for a string of serious complaints by neighbours in Wardieburn Drive, including racially-motivated assault, vandalism and graffiti.

One family ended up fleeing the area after suffering years of racial abuse at their hands.

The city council and police collected a dossier of evidence against the Huttons and yesterday moved in to evict them. The family were not at home as they forced entry, and secured the property with a large steel door.

Many local residents today said they welcomed the move but speaking to the Evening News, Mrs Hutton hit back, denying she was a racist and insisting she had in fact been the victim of hate campaign by another resident.

A tearful Mrs Hutton said: "It is all just a pack of lies.

"I'm not racist and neither are my kids. One resident – who doesn't even live there anymore – used to spy on my kids and call the police making all sorts of claims against them, saying they had broken his washing line or thrown stones at his house.

"My head is all over the place because of this and I don't know what to think. The council said they would put me up in homeless accommodation, but I don't want to do that to the kids, so we're staying with friends and family."

The city council said Mrs Hutton, who has lived in the area all her life, was sent warning letters and had joint visits from the council and the police before eviction.

They said the family had subjected their neighbours to years of unreasonable behaviour including a number of assaults. They were also responsible for extensive vandalism, including damaging cars, smashing public toilets, kicking open stair doors and breaking door entry systems, throwing stones, smashing windows, threats and general abuse.

One local resident, who asked not to be identified, said: "My kids were often too scared to play outside because her son would attack them. I didn't even like them looking out the window when he was out there because he often threw stones at the windows."

The city council said Mrs Hutton was offered support with tenancy issues from the council's Neighbourhood Support Team. In the end, however, legal action was necessary, after officials said the serious nature of the complaints and the fact that the family had made no effort to change their behaviour meant action had to be taken.

Community safety leader Councillor Paul Edie said: "This action sends a clear message that we will not tolerate any sort of racially motivated harassment.

"Praise should go to residents for standing up."

Police confirmed that the family had been involved in a number of issues including, racial assault, racial graffiti and assault.

Chief Inspector Denise Mulvaney added: "Police take the issue of hate crime very seriously, and we believe the robust action taken in this case was the right thing to do."