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Mother blamed in squalid home row
Mar 11 2008 By James Cartledge
A JOBLESS mother-of-eight who was once dubbed Birmingham's worst nuisance neighbour has now been accused of trashing her home.
Despite raking in more than £300-a-week in benefits, Linda Coley wanted the city council to spend thousands upgrading her dilapidated house at Hartley Grove, Kingstanding.
But now the tables have been turned after inspectors decided she was to blame for its shocking condition and ordered her to pay for repairs.
"The overall condition of the property is directly attributable to the tenant and her family," a council spokeswoman said.
The row is Mrs Coley's latest dust-up with the council after she previously ran up the worst blacklist of nuisance complaints in the city's housing history. In 1999, she faced eviction from her then-home at Coppenhall Grove, Stechford.
Neighbours complained her children were abusive, trampled down garden plants, stole milk and hammered nails into a disabled person's car.
The 45-year-old single mum was only saved when the same neighbours then begged housing officials to give her one last chance.
The Birmingham Mail told last month how Mrs Coley, whose eight children are fathered by five different men, had accused the authority of risking her family's safety and health by ignoring a lengthy list of repairs.
When a Mail reporter visited her home, window frames in several rooms were secured to walls with heavy duty tape, the kitchen had units missing and the bathroom floor had virtually disintegrated. The lounge walls were filthy.
Amid the squalor were living Mrs Coley's three youngest children, aged 11, eight and three.
The council said it would pay for security, wash basin and gas fire repairs but any other repairs were down to her.
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