A private landlord ended up in court after he defied official warnings to provide a mum and her two children aged under 10 with hot water and heating at their rented home.

Bradford Council and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) repeatedly demanded Khalid Khan should show them gas safety certificates for the property and to make repairs to the faulty boiler.

The mum was left with no heating for months, Bradford Magistrates Court was told.

Eventually, the council replaced the boiler and the HSE issued an enforcement order demanding Khan should produce gas safety paperwork within 30 days.

Khan ignored the order and the court heard that he had not produced any documents to prove a qualified engineer had checked out the boiler and gas appliances since 2007, despite the housing laws requiring an annual maintenance check.

Khan was found guilty of two breaches of gas safety laws despite denying the charges.

Magistrates ordered him to serve 200 hours unpaid community service and to pay £1,500 costs.

HSE inspector Rachel Brittain said: “This type of offence is still regrettably far too prevalent among private landlords. Even today, the tenant’s gas fire is not working and she is using her own gas heater.”

Fire safety fine

Landlord Hussein Dag was fined £8,000 for failing to provide his tenants with adequate fire safety protection at a private rented home in Grantham, Lincolnshire.

He admitted six counts at Grantham Magistrates Court following an inspection by Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue.

Cannabis factory in flat

Tenant Dean Williams, 29, was jailed for eight months by Teesside magistrates after pleading guilty to producing cannabis and two thefts from a supermarket. Williams  has had 64 convictions since 1996.

Police raided the flat and discovered the electricity supply was bypassed and a bedroom was crammed with 25 plants in two growing tents, with an estimated street value of £11,000.