Landlord fined £16k for tenant’s anti-social behav...

A landlord has been handed a £16,000 fine because his tenant would not stop playing loud music.

Jason Duffield must pay the hefty penalty even though it was his tenant who disturbed neighbours by playing his dance tracks for up to 36 hours at a time.

The tenant has now moved out the property in Tamworth, Staffordshire, and Duffield, 47, has been left wondering how he is going to raise the capital needed to pay the fine.

He told the press: “I honestly can’t put into words how I feel about it. It’s made me sick with worry and I have no idea how I will pay the fine.”

Despite never having lived at the rented property, Duffield, who lives in Birmingham, was handed a restraining order by police last year because of the noise coming from the house, and was then sent an abatement notice by North Warwickshire Borough Council, which later seized stereo equipment and televisions belonging to the landlord because he rented the property out furnished.

Duffield, who has now sold the property, was as convicted of five breaches of the Noise Abatement Notice at Nuneaton Magistrates’ Court, and was ordered to pay a £10,000 fine, £6,000 in costs to the council, and £170 in surcharges. But he says that he will fight the conviction “all the way”.

He commented: “I will fight it all the way but it’s just so much extra stress. To get blamed for something I have not done is completely crazy.

“Even in court, the solicitors and the people next door said they had not seen me at the house.”

However, Steve Maxey, assistant chief executive and solicitor to the council, insisted that the fine reflects “the severity of the offence”.

He said: “Jason Duffield repeatedly ignored the warnings from the police and from the council, which not only constituted a flagrant breach of the law but also caused undue distress and upset to his neighbours in Dordon.”

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m Goe
30 May 2017 10:12 AM

Aren't you rather missing the point here? This 'crime' was committed by the tenant, not the landlord. Since when does this make the landlord culpable or even responsible for sorting out the mess? When was the last time a local council was fined for this kind of 'offence'? Judging by what goes on in most social housing projects, I'd say the answer is 'never'. Councils are unable/unwilling to sort these kind of issues on their own turf but want to fine the PRS for doing the same. Hypocrisy at it's best.