On Wednesday 21st October, it was reported that a landlord had been fined for risking lives of dozens of tenants.
Manjit Dulay who reportedly owned over 70 flats with a £30 million property empire “like a corner shop” was fined over his failure to ensure fire safety regulations were in place.
In 2014 Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service had first informed Manjit of urgent improvements required and fire safety standards to be upgraded at the site. But repeated inspections by authorities found a non-functioning fire alarm system, useless smoke detectors, unsuitable fire escape routes and a broken emergency air venting system. Reports note that following these inspections, he was served with a formal enforcement notice in April 2016 and in 2017, Leicester Crown Court heard about recurring problems besides the new ones.
Over time, the fire service officers had installed new smoke detectors themselves and in 2017 Manjit had hired an online company to do a fire risk assessment for £400 but apparently never informed them of the enforcement notice or the scale of problems. Despite spending money to illegally build two penthouses on the blocks without planning permission, Manjit failed to do the work required to meet fire safety requirements.
On Wednesday, he was prosecuted and pleaded guilty to six counts of risking people’s death or injury by breaching fire regulations.
Besides regulatory breaches, Manjit from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, admitted failing to surrender to bail in February this year. He had absconded for 130 days and then also missed a later appointment to sign in at a police station.
According to Leicester Mercury, Lawrence Henderson, representing Dulay, said, “He’s no businessman – he’s a builder. He has taken on far more than he could manage. He’s trying to keep up with what he’s created.”
Whereas Judge Robert Brown told Mr Henderson, “You’re describing a multi-national being run like a corner shop. He’s completely out of his depth.”
Judge Brown gave Dulay a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, and ordered him to pay an £80,000 fine plus £66,418 in costs.
The judge told Dulay, “You’re a builder, not a businessman. A radical new approach to compliance is now necessary.”
