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Head tenant who illegally sublet property to 35 people then changed the locks has been imprisoned for 16 weeks
A head tenant who changed the locks on a property that was being illegally sublet to 35 men has been jailed for 16 weeks for illegal eviction.
Ilie Florin Dragusin bolted the men out of a converted three-bedroom semi-detached house after the property was raided by Brent Council’s enforcement team in September last year.
Mr Dragusin was one of three head tenants at the property in Winchester Avenue, Kingsbury, where 35 tenants were found to be living in substandard conditions in an unlicensed HMO.
Mr Dragusin, who was living with his parents in Edgeware before being taken into custody on 19 June, ignored four sets of warnings by enforcement officers not to change the locks on the property. Willesden Magistrates Court heard how he showed no regard for the people he had locked out after removing their belongings from their home.
The head tenants had previously been prosecuted for operating an unlicensed HMO and we reported the case here.
Video footage from the Brent Council raid in September 2017
Cllr Eleanor Southwood, Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Reform at Brent Council, said:
“This custodial sentence sends a strong message to anyone thinking that they can get away with illegally evicting their tenants. The punishment is prison. We will help people in the private rented sector who are suffering from the actions of rogue landlords, subletters and agents.“
The custodial sentence is the second jail term that Brent Council has seen brought against a person for unlawful eviction since licensing came into force at the end of 2015.
For more information about the mandatory HMO, additional and selective licensing schemes in Brent visit www.londonpropertylicensing.co.uk/brent
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