A buy-to-let landlord has been left with a £5,200 legal bill following a string of drug-dealing and possible exploitation offences linked to his property in north Manchester.
Abdul Razar Saddiqui, based in Bury, had a number of problems relating to his house on Seymour Road, Crumpsall, M8, which resulted in a closure order, brought by Manchester City Council before the city's magistrates court last week.
The 52-year-old landlord contested the closure order, but JPs agreed with the local authority, after hearing police had received 86 calls about the three-storey property since 2014 and ordered Saddiqui to pay £5,230 in court costs.
The landlord had previously been fined £1,200 after being convicted of a raft of fire safety and gas safety offences in relation to the building.
An application to close the property for three months was granted by magistrates on the grounds a person has, or will, 'engage in disorderly, offensive or criminal behaviour on the premises'.
Only Saddiqui, the police or city council officers will be allowed into the property before October 2.
If a closure order is breached, the punishment can be a maximum of six months imprisonment.
Cllr Nigel Murphy, the city council's deputy leader, said after the case: “This property has been nothing short of a horror show for the people living in this neighbourhood.
“As a council we always want to try and engage with people before we go to the courts but in this case our attempts have been futile. The owner has failed to address the litany of problems, so we were forced to take this action.”
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