15/01/2010 - Landlord given record-breaking fine
A landlord who promised more than he delivered to his tenants has been handed a record fine for failing to address a "catalogue of hazards" that caught the attention of environmental health officers.
Paul Vincent O'Shaughnessy, of Grange Road, Haydock, was fined £6,000 by magistrates in St Helens after environmental health officers found a number of hazards in his Haydock property. These were said to have endangered the health and safety of his tenant, a young mother and her two children, and included penetrating dampness, slip and trip hazards and a water leak over a child's bed.
Other hazards included a lack of loft insulation, lack of handrail to the stairs and no gas safety certificate vouching for the property's gas supply.
St Helens Council said it was left with no option but to take legal action after the landlord failed to fulfil promises to fix the property.
Mr O'Shaughnessy was also ordered to pay £1,169 costs and a victim surcharge, setting a new record for a fine handed to a landlord in the town.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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