A landlord from Sealand has been charged with several offences after a property under his ownership was found to have had a number of fire safety breaches.

Mr John Russell Brown, the owner of Hyperion Investments Ltd which owns the building, admitted to 12 offences under the Housing Act in one of the largest multi-agency operations in the country. 

The property had 107 tenants living across two storeys, bringing Mr Brown an estimated £23,000 per month in rent. 

Mr Christopher Moss, prosecuting, told the court Flintshire Council officers originally attended the property in February this year after an anonymous tip off.

When inspectors visited the property, they found faulty electrics, a lack of basic fire fighting equipment and many fire exits blocked. 

They also found that there were no fire doors and lighting was poor, making escape in the event of an emergency dangerous. 

An emergency prohibition order was put in place to close the property and the tenants were moved to temporary emergency accommodation.

Mr Moss said: “All in all, the property was in a real state detrimental to the health of the tenants. It was essentially uninhabitable and tenants were not provided with even the most basic of safe living conditions.”

Mr Brown will be sentenced on 14 January. 

Original source

The Leader