A single mother with two young children was told by a Labour-run council that she must leave her home because her stalker neighbour is being released early from prison.
Paige Boniface’s life was made a misery by Robert Moaby, 55, before he was arrested in May as he obsessed over her in a block of flats in Islington, north London.
Moaby, a registered sex offender, was sentenced to nine months in prison in August for stalking her.
He was handed a restraining order, which prohibits him from being within 100 metres of her, the property or the local nursery, but is set to be released this week.
Miss Boniface, 22, was warned by Islington Council that she will not be safe living in the same block and if she refused to move, her two-year-old daughter and 10-month-old son could be removed from her care.
The local authority has said it had no intention of removing the mother’s children from her should she choose the remain there.
A spokesperson added: ‘We apologise to our resident for any confusion in the way these options were previously presented to her, and are committed to supporting her.’
Paige Boniface, pictured was told by her council she must leave her home because her stalker neighbour is being released early from prison
Moaby, a registered sex offender, pictured, was sentenced to nine months in prison in August for stalking Miss Boniface
Paige Boniface’s life was made a misery by Robert Moaby, 55, before he was arrested in May as he obsessed over her in a block of flats in Islington, north London (pictured)
She asked to stay and questioned why she is being forced to leave the property and claims she was told he still has a tenancy agreement.
‘I’m the one being treated like a stalker and sex offender instead of the victim,’ she said.
‘I am only 22 and I feel like my life has been ripped away from me and my kids. I didn’t ask for this, all I did was smile at someone once. I didn’t know it was going to ruin my life.’
The young mother is now facing homelessness as she still does not have anywhere to move with her two children.
Miss Boniface added: ‘Knowing he’s coming out early is like a punch in the gut and now I might be homeless and it’s making me feel physically sick not knowing what I am going to do.’
An Islington council employee wrote to her in May and said: ‘Social care made aware of case and said they are not safe as she lives in the same block.’
‘If she cannot make herself safe, social care advised children could be removed.’
She said: ‘I bawled my eyes out when I heard this because my kids are my whole heart and I just want to protect them. It’s not my fault. I’m a strong woman but at the same time, this is breaking me.’
A manager on the council’s domestic violence and abuse team told her: ‘Social care and police have advised that you move as you are unsafe’ before giving her advice as to how to seek an urgent move.
It involves being moved into temporary accommodation and filling out a homeless application form.
Miss Boniface asked to stay and questioned why she is being forced to leave the property and claims she was told he still has a tenancy agreement
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‘I’m the one being treated like a stalker and sex offender instead of the victim,’ she said
The young mother is now facing homelessness as she still does not have anywhere to move with her two children
Her neighbours came together and launched a petition calling on Islington Council to not let Moaby move back into their block of flats once he’s released.
Miss Boniface said: ‘The neighbours are sick to their stomachs about the whole thing.
‘I understand they’re saying he needs to be rehabilitated. But put him somewhere not with families and in supported living so this doesn’t happen to somebody else.’
A spokesman for the council confirmed Moaby still has a tenancy agreement although it has now initiated eviction proceedings against him.
They are working with probation services to try move him to a different property.
Miss Boniface is suffering from anxiety and depression following the ordeal and asked to at least be allowed to stay close to her support network of friends and family.
She said Moaby, who lived three floors above her in the tower, would stare at her as she was putting her buggies away and follow her around the shops and to her daughter’s nursery.
It came just a year after he was found guilty of stalking another victim in October 2022 and was sentenced to 24 months of community service.
He is a convicted sex offender and was found with more than 2,800 images of children as young as four engaged in ‘appalling sexual acts’, following a tip to police from the FBI.
Miss Boniface neighbours came together and launched a petition calling on Islington Council to not let Moaby move back into their block of flats once he’s released
Moaby was found with more than 2,800 images of children as young as four engaged in ‘appalling sexual acts’, following a tip to police from the FBI.
Moaby was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in August 2002 for both the child pornography and sending terrifying death threats to bankers backing the controversial laboratories of Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS).
Then aged 33, he sent emails across the Atlantic warning that unless financiers pulled the plug on HLS they would be killed.
He was a committed follower of hardline campaigners SHAC – Stop Huntingdon Animal Security.
The chilling wording of the messages and the inclusion of personal details of the victims meant the threats were taken seriously.
Following a request for comment, Islington Council told Miss Boniface she could stay in the property and her children would not be taken from her if she chose to do so.
A spokesman for the local authority said: ‘We have been working with our resident to support her and her children at this deeply distressing time.
‘We have set out a range of options to our resident, including the offer of moving to alternative temporary or permanent accommodation – but we are also supporting her to stay in her current home if she would prefer.
‘The council has never had any intention of removing the resident’s children from her home should she choose to remain there.
‘We apologise to our resident for any confusion in the way these options were previously presented to her, and are committed to supporting her.’
