Colchester man gets £150,000 offer in Windrush compensation

Claudius Charles, 64, was born in Grenada in 1960 and moved to London in 1972 and then Colchester in 1992.

After he lost his job as a live-in carer, Claudius was arrested in 2011 and jailed for 52 months after intending to supply class-A drugs.

He served his sentence in prison but on his release he was taken to a deportation centre for 11 months.

Claudius claims he faced the constant fear of being put on a plane and made to leave.

After protestations from his family and refusing to leave Claudius was allowed to remain but was left homeless and with no access to benefits.

Claudius is one of dozens of people affected by the Windrush scandal. 

The scandal revealed citizens of Commonwealth countries - who had an automatic right to settle in the UK until 1973 - had wrongly faced questions about those rights.

In 2020 the Government came under pressure to review its policy around deportation of Windrush citizens who later committed crimes.

A leaked report said “deportation should only be considered in the most severe cases.”

Claudius applied to the Windrush compensation scheme and received a preliminary offer of £10,000 but this was later raised to an £153,000 offer.

A letter sent to Claudius' daughter Anne-Marie Charles said the Home Office “sincerely apologise for the suffering you have experienced as a result of Home Office actions.”

The National Windrush Monument at Waterloo Station (Image: PA)

However, Claudius does not believe this sum is enough to cover the homelessness, legal fees and distress he claims he and his family faced.

He has appealed the decision and is awaiting on a final offer. 

Claudius said: “What they have done so far is a gesture, £153,000 is minimal because I took them to court and won on a default judgment.

“I have been fighting the Home Office since 2015 over this matter and it has cost me so much because of all my different lawyers.

“I turned the offer down and asked for a review of the offer because I believe the Home Office didn't consider any of the evidence I provided.

“I sent them new evidence dating back to 2018 with three tribunal offers saying I'm British and the Home Office saying I'm not.

"It says if you are in Britain before January 1,1973, you are a British citizen.

"However, the Home Office refused that right on the grounds of my character.

“The government did not have the right to refuse my citizenship but they still are."

He added: "My offence was serious only because an undercover police officer gave me money to buy drugs for him.

"I never had any involvement with drugs on my record until this started."

Claudius said his claim was also about fighting the injustice the victims of the Windrush scheme faced.

He said: “It’s not really about the money it’s about the injustice. There is still injustice – the Government is treating the situation like ‘Oh it is only a bunch of black people. It doesn’t matter.

“I’ve been through the system and detention centres, and I was going to be shipped out of the country with four pence in my pocket, with no friends no family, and there was nothing I could do about it.

“I had no right to appeal until I was out of the country. They had to dismiss the right of action. How can you justify that?”

Anne-Marie also received a preliminary offer of £10,000 after she filed for close family member compensation.

Anne-Marie Charles has also been awarded £10,000 (Image: Anne-Marie Charles)

She said: “I have mental health issues and this situation affected me quite a lot when my dad faced deportation, I was in and out of psychiatric wards.

“I am stable now and have a good job, but it doesn’t take away what happened to me and the years of suffering we endured.

“The Government tried to deport so many people, but it all happened under wraps.”

Anne-Marie, who now lives in Dagenham, will receive a final offer late August.

The Gazette asked the Home Office to comment on the allegations but did not receive a response before going to print.