Landlord fined after failing to clear up rubbish
A landlord who refused to clean up a ‘grot spot’ behind his property has been ordered to pay nearly £900.
Mohammed Sharif, aged 41 and of Keppel Road in Chorlton, pleaded guilty to not complying with a legal notice, during a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court recently. He was fined £250 with £600 costs and a £15 victims of crime surcharge - a total of £865 which must be paid within three months.
A Manchester City Council officer discovered problems on land owned by Sharif, behind shops on Petersfield Drive in Baguley last September.
Piles of mattresses, builders’ waste and bags of rubbish had been dumped there, while the land was also overgrown with weeds.
The City Council served a notice on Sharif, ordering him to clear up the yard within 14 days, but was forced to carry out the work itself when he failed to do this.
Sharif was also invited to give his side of the story during an interview, which he failed to attend.
Cllr Paul Andrews, Manchester City Council’s Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “This case should serve as a warning that we will not tolerate landlords who allow their properties to fall into such a disgraceful state, with no regard for the city's residents.
“We have the power to demand landlords clean up gardens and yards which become a blight on our neighbourhoods, and we will prosecute those who refuse to do so.”
Landlords left to clear up mess after more
cannabis factories are uncovered by police
Two illegal immigrants who used a rented properties in Barry, South Wales, to grow cannabis worth around half a million pounds have been jailed following a hearing a Cardiff Crown Court.
Hai The Tran, aged 29, and Soa Thi Tran, aged 38, who are both from Vietnam, were sentenced to 20 months each recently after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to the production of Class B drug cannabis in contravention of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971
A police search of two houses uncovered 770 cannabis plants in one and 660 plants in the other.
Both defendants will be the subject of an automatic deportation order.
Another man, who is believed to be Vietnamese, was caught and arrested by police when he jumped out of a window at a rented house in Burton, Staffordshire, and ran away before trying to hide in nearby undergrowth.
When police officers searched the property they found drugs and equipment used in the production of cannabis plants.
In an interview with the local media, police spokesman Peter Stevens said: “Lots of people are becoming much more aware of rented properties being used as so called cannabis factories, so we are getting much more information from the community.
A small cannabis factory was found in a rented bedsit in the Bootham area of York after police used battering rams to raid three different properties all in the same street.
A man was arrested on suspicion of production and possession of a Class B drug with intent to supply after several bags of cannabis and 15 plants were found in the bedsit.
Landlord caught up in Samurai
sword drama after rent dispute
A tenant was questioned by police after he was arrested in connection with allegedly chasing his landlord from his rented property and then down the street with a Samurai sword.
The landlord had gone to his property in Whetstone, North London, to talk to the tenant about overdue rent and the fact he had been served with eviction notices.
A police report says that the landlord was forced to run off when the tenant went back into the house and reportedly emerged with the sword. However, when police later attended the scene to arrest the man and search of the house, no weapon was found.
Date set for Residential Landlords Association AGMThe Annual General Meeting of the members of the Residential Landlords Association Limited will be held at the RLA Office, 1 Roebuck Lane, Sale, Greater Manchester, on Thursday, 23 September 2010, at 2 pm.
