A landlord who threw a tenant out on the streets without his shoes when he failed to pay his rent has been jailed for unlawful eviction.
Jay Allen, 30, forcibly evicted Chris Blades after he ran up £900 of arrears on the rental property in Sheffield.
Allen had no court order and recruited a friend, Razwan Mohammed, to physically push him out.
When Mr Blades, 28, told Allen, who has previous convictions for assault and affray, that he was breaking the law, the landlord replied: “Do I look like I care?”
Judge Roger Keen QC said Allen, who earns £2,000 a month from seven properties, tried to ‘dominate and frighten’ his tenant. He jailed him for nine months.
Mohammed was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment suspended for a year, with a seven-day tagged curfew from 7pm to 6am.
Allen was one of six men who went on trial two years ago, charged with conspiracy to murder Safrajur Jahangir, 23, who was shot behind the wheel of his car in August 2009. The nine-week trial collapsed after defence lawyers discovered they had not been shown potentially vital evidence.
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Comments
And if you stole £900 quid from someone in a street you would get a prison sentance. Why do tenants get away with it..theft is theft,,,self defence i say .
How does licencing stop a thieving tenant Wok?~
Licensing is not the panacea that some seem to think?
Vigorously enforcing current legislation would be better?
As a professional letting agent this is another good reason for all landlords and agents to be licensed. Only the bad have anything to fear.
We hear of so many private landlords who still think they can get away with things like this. Hopefully a few examples like this will show that you can't and best to use a qualified and experienced letting agent who deals with non-payment quickly and correctly