27th
Jan 2022
A landlord received a jail sentence, suspended for one year, after being found guilty of illegally evicting a tenant who found he was locked out of the property after returning home from his night shift.
The landlord was also found guilty of throwing away all of the tenant’s possessions.
The tenant came back home following his night shift early in the morning and was shocked to find he was not only homeless but also without any of his belongings.
The unnamed landlord has been ordered to pay £3,000 compensation to the tenant and £250 to Sedgemoor council in Somerset.
During the case proceedings the Magistrates in Taunton said they had taken into account the landlord’s ill-health, but decided there were several major features issues that the council stated “made this a very serious offence” reported on the County Gazette website, included:
• The tenant had lost his home in Bridgwater for which he had regularly paid rent;
• The tenant understood that he would get a month's notice, which was in itself unlawful given the provisions of the Coronavirus Act which means that there is additional protection of six months;
• The landlord had been advised by the council's housing team prior to the eviction, that he must abide by the law and by his own admission the landlord chose not to do so;
• The tenant lost all of his possessions many of which were personal and irreplaceable;
• The bench wished to put on record the timely actions and effort taken by the council’s housing team in trying to support the tenant prior to the eviction and Bridgwater Town Cllr Glen Burrows' attempts to resolve the matter immediately after the eviction.
Upon sentencing the landlord, the Chairman of the Bench stated they had favourably considered the landlord upon entering an early guilty plea, his previous good character and stating he was deeply ashamed of his actions. However because his actions were deemed as a serious offence then they had no other option but to pass the sentence.
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