A “low life” landlord has been fined more than £11,000 for cramming his tenants into a loft that posed an “imminent risk of death”.

Paul Ettienne, 46, of Headstone Drive in Harrow, was prosecuted at Willesden Magistrates Court when council exterminators eliminating bed bugs discovered he was living unlawfully with eight tenants in a structurally unsafe loft space.

Harrow Times:

Waste draining into a bin

Housing enforcement officers found people were living with just one toilet and no washbasin, overloaded sockets, no smoke detector and gaps in the staircase.

Parcel tape was also used to hold a double-glazed window, and dirty kitchen water was draining into a bin because there were no drainage pipes.

Harrow Times:

The attic space

The council immediately banned use of the property before taking Mr Ettienne to court where he was fined £11,175. The council said he had ignored previous warnings.

Harrow Times:

Tape holding a window

Councillor Varsha Parmar, portfolio holder for environment, said: “I don’t know who is the lowest form of life here – the bed bugs, or the man who’d put his tenants at risk of death, simply for his own profit. We’re going to stamp out this sort of behaviour – so if you know a parasite who needs a visit from us, we promise to give them the full treatment.”