NEWS
Fines and prosecutions Car wash owner fined for unsafe accommodation
AHMED MAHMOUD Hussain, who operated the Pit Stop Car Wash in Shipley, Bradford, was fined £5,380 for his ‘dangerous and unhygienic’ worker accommodation. Examiner Live reported on the
prosecution of Mr Hussain by Bradford Council. In March 2015, the site received an emergency prohibition order which forbade the property from being ‘used for habitation’ due to the risk of fire. Soon afterwards, occupants vacated the property. However, council housing standards officers acted on a tip off in July 2019 and inspected the site, discovering ‘clear evidence of people living in poor quality and dangerous living spaces’ on site. The inspection visit took place alongside representatives from Her
Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the police, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority as well as West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS). The rooms found had beds, furniture, mobile phones and clothing, with a ‘strong smell of commercial chemicals’ discovered alongside ‘poor’ ventilation, no fire alarms and ‘inadequate’ evacuation routes. In turn, the officers found a ‘filthy
kitchen area’ with a homemade rat trap ‘consisting of a plank of wood leading up to a bucket of water’, alongside a temporary stove, liquid petroleum gas tanks, a ‘makeshift’ sink and open cupboards. This latest visit came from
tip offs and complaints that the property ‘was again being used as accommodation by workers’, and
WYFRS and housing standards officers believed the accommodation ‘presented serious risks to the occupants’ safety, health and wellbeing’. As a consequence, Mr Hussain was convicted of breaching the emergency prohibition order and was fined £5,380, as well as council costs of £373 and a victim surcharge of £181. Alex Ross-Shaw, the council’s portfolio holder for regeneration, planning and transport, commented: ‘We welcome the court’s ruling on this prosecution. It’s disgraceful to house people in such dangerous and unhygienic conditions. ‘We will take every action
available to us against rogue business operators and landlords who flout environmental and planning laws.’
Landlord prosecuted over ‘dangerous’ house
STANLEY RODGERS was prosecuted as the landlord of an unlicensed house in multiple occupation (HMO) with fire safety issues in Great Yarmouth. Great Yarmouth Mercury reported
on the prosecution at Great Yarmouth Magistrates’ Court. Mr Rodgers had previously been sentenced to five years in jail in 2004 after two teenage tenants died from carbon monoxide poisoning ‘due to a faulty gas fire’, and had admitted to six offences, including managing an unlicensed HMO in 2015, related to putting tenants at risk. This new case concerned a three
bedroom house in 2019, rented out to five people. Mr Rodgers failed to inform the council that the property was an
HMO and, after a tenant complaint, the council inspected it, finding that it ‘lacked fire doors, smoke detectors and an appropriate escape route’. The tenants – according to council solicitor David Lowens – suggested that Mr Rodgers knew he was renting the house as an HMO. As a ‘professional landlord with
a number of properties’, it is ‘part of his job to be aware of the HMO legislation’, Mr Lowens added. The inspection had made the council ‘very concerned’ about fire safety. Officers from Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service attended, and agreed it was ‘completely unsatisfactory and dangerous’. In mitigation, Esther Tan
16 JULY/AUGUST 2020
www.frmjournal.com
said Mr Rodgers had been a ‘victim of circumstance’, and was ‘under the genuine belief’ he was renting the property to a family of five. She also said he had ‘limited understanding’ of the laws covering HMOs, with his ‘only intention’ to assist the family with getting accommodation, not letting the property as an HMO – he had ‘learned lessons from his previous convictions’. At court, Mr Rodgers pleaded
guilty to a series of offences including managing an unlicensed HMO and charges ‘related to putting the tenants at risk’. He was fined £20,000, and had to pay costs of £5,500 plus an outstanding payment of £4,600
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