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Landlord jailed for seven years over tenant attack

A landlord who attacked a tenant in the street following a “campaign of harassment and violence” over rent has been jailed for seven years.

Oxford Crown Court heard how landlord Tahir Ali denied punching Thangaperumal Rajasingh twice in the face while an unknown accomplice hit him on the leg with a cricket bat.

The jury found him guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

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The Oxford Times has reported the judge’s findings.

Rajasingh moved into a house in Marston Street, Oxford, owned by Ali’s family in 2013, paying £325 a month in rent.

Judge Peter Ross said the attack was the end of a campaign of violence against tenants in the house, which came to a head when Rajasingh missed a rent payment.

The judge told Ali: “The attack represented the culmination of what I regard as harassment and violence towards tenants at that address. Basically it boiled down to this – you and your family thought you could get higher rents than those being paid by the tenants that were there.”

The court heard how 35-year-old Ali had beaten another tenant who had been asked to leave and hours before the attack had changed the locks on the front door to stop Rajasingh getting in.

He said: “It is clear you used violence towards another tenant – you boasted about it in a text message. ‘Three punches and he was down’ – those were your words.”

The jury heard that Rajasingh had left the Marston Street property in the early hours of 6 June last year when two men got out of a car and attacked him.

Judge Ross said that Ali had gone to the house to threaten his victim before attacking him and leaving him bleeding with “horrific” injuries.

Defending Claire Fraser said that her client had suffered from depression, anxiety and panic attacks since a 10-year relationship broke down a year before the attack.

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