An Ashfield private landlord has been ordered to pay almost £10,000 after numerous hazards were found in the rented home of a family with four children.Nottingham magistrates heard Leon Derrick of Netherfield, had been given nearly a year to carry out the repairs, failed to attended the court hearing and shown no regard for his tenant’s safety.

After a complaint in January last year, Ashfield District Council’s Environmental Health Officers visited the house on Bentinck Street, Hucknall. They found no fire detectors, a missing door, no buttons on the gas hob and repairs were required to an outhouse roof, which had partly collapsed. Lauren Gimson, prosecuting, told the court: “There was no gas safety certificate or evidence of the gas boiler being regularly serviced. There was damp and mould and floorboards were missing.” Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service were called in by Ashfield District Council’s Private Sector Enforcement team to fit smoke detectors and provide fire safety advice. At the time of the first inspection, one of the children was a young baby. All are aged under 12, and the landlord failed to address any risk and left the family in poor conditions.

A fine of £9,000 was imposed on Derrick. He was ordered to pay £829.41 council costs and a victim surcharge of £170. He was found guilty in his absence of failing to comply with an improvement notice issued by the council in February last year. Cllr Jason Zadrozny, Leader of Ashfield District Council said “This shows the Council’s commitment in bringing rogue landlords to justice. The hard work by all Council officers involved means we will now be able to pursue further action to make the property safe for the tenants. This should act as warning to all rogue landlords in the district that poor and squalid housing is not acceptable and we will come after you.