Sevenoaks landlady Dawn Holliday has been given a suspended prison sentence and fitted with an electronic tag after she refused to comply with an Improvement Notice to undertake gas safety checks at a rental property.

Tenants at her Eastchurch home had complained that the boiler was temperamental, made banging noises and often failed to produce any hot water or heating. The cooker was also out of use because it had been condemned.

Guilty

When the HSE served her with an Improvement Notice requiring her to do gas safety checks, she ignored it, claiming she didn’t have the money. She also falsely claimed her tenants had moved out owing her rent.

When her case came to court, however, she pleaded guilty to three charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Section 21 and the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998 36(2) and 36(3).

Holliday was handed a prison sentence of 26 weeks suspended for 12 months. The judge also ordered she be tagged and imposed a home curfew on her between 8pm and 6am for four months. In addition, she had to pay £750 in costs and there was a remediation order for her to do a gas safety inspection.

We do not tolerate disregard for health and safety.”

HSE inspector Joanne Williams said after the verdict: “We are dedicated to ensuring that landlords operate within the law and provide safe accommodation for tenants.

“We do not tolerate disregard for health and safety and consider the non-compliance of HSE enforcement notices as a serious offence.

“In this case, Ms Holliday chose to flagrantly ignore the support, guidance and warnings from HSE to assist her in compliance with the law and continued placing her tenants at serious risk of injury or even death.”