By Gabriel Princewill-
Notorious rogue landlord, Mr Crow was rushed to hospital after falling down a number of times at a care home in Grays where he had been residing after his mental and physical heath dramatically deteriorated badly.
The 72 year old was hospitalised last Friday, after two major falls that led to him hitting his head at the home he was moved to following emergency calls to his property at Devereux Road in Southend last year where he once resided as a landlord to homeless people in the Southend area. It is not clear how bad the injury he sustained is.
His older millionaire brother and successful businessman, who does not want to be named in association with this story, told The Eye Of Media.Com that his younger brother was now severely emaciated, having lost a lot of weight, adding that he appears to have lost his memory almost completely and does not recognise anybody.
The worrying development saw social services called to intervene and oversee his well being whilst at the car home in Essex.
However, his daughter Francis, has apparently taking over looking after his affairs, stating that social services were inadequately handling the situation.
Stripped of his financial resources, and having lost two of his only childhood friends in a space of four months in 2022, not only has he lost his vitality, his mental and physical health is sadly withering away.
”He is barely recognizable, he has lost a lot of weight now and is barely 8 stone. He cannot recognise anybody. He cannot recognise me or his daughter, he has practically lost it.
”it’s sad because he had everything at that care home that he didn’t have at his property. He had a functioning shower, electricity, and a nice room and garden, but he would hardly eat anything he was given. He moaned about everything”.
This publication was unable to establish why his own money was not used to purchase what he wanted to eat.
The former landlord had been accommodating homeless people in the much sought after conservatory area of Southend On Sea for a number of years, with Southend Borough Council paying him benefits money in the form of rent for his several unemployed tenants.
The council eventually stopped his benefits, after they grew tired of him failing to comply with their regulations.
Court Battles
Mr. Crow’s interactions with Southend Council was fraught with a series of court battles, primarily revolving around his failure to maintain his properties to acceptable standards and comply with statutory obligations relating to HMO regulations.
Multiple cases were filed against the beleaguered former landlord due to issues such as unsafe living conditions, lack of necessary repairs, and failure to address health and safety concerns.
The council’s decisive action to address Mr. Crow’s numerous violations through legal proceedings, led to consistent court verdicts against Mr. Crow, with hefty fines and orders issued against him over the substandard conditions at his property and his staunch refusal to address them.
Crow, whose multiple legal troubles were frequently reported in his local press, first received a fine of £39k in 2016 for the condition of his property, and was slapped with another of £18k five years later in 2021, for allegedly flouting a ban not to house tenants because of the state of his property. He is said to have incurred more fines of up to £40,000, and was eventually let off by the courts when he declared himself bankrupt.
Amongst the breaches documented against him were a lack of fire safety measures, faulty electrical systems, and inadequate heating. Tenants reported living in damp and mould-infested properties, exposing them to health risks. Mr. Crow was accused of consistently neglected his responsibilities as a landlord, prioritizing profit over the well-being of his tenants
Despite the court’s rulings, Mr. Crow defiantly objected to demands from Southend Council to put his property in check, leading to the council pursuing further legal action, in the end resulting in the repossession of the property owned by Mr. Crow.
He was found guilty of breaching an ASBO order from the courts, and access to benefits for the homeless were stopped, cutting off his income supply and eventually amounting to him losing all his tenants.
Stripped of his financial resources, and having lost two of his only childhood friends in a space of four months in 2022, not only has he lost his vitality, his mental and physical health is sadly withering away.
Anti Social Behaviour
Compounding Mr Crow’s woes were a series of anti social behavioural conducts by many of his unsavoury tenants, culminating in several visits by the police to his property, including drug raids and a stabbing.
Police visited his property up to 50 times in one year, and were called on some of those occasions by Mr Crow himself to investigate a drug dealer he had unsuspectedly provided with accommodation .
Two of his tenants were imprisoned for Actual Bodily Harm(ABH) and supplying class A drugs respectively.
Perpetual complaints from his angered neighbours set the stage for an acrimonious relationship with them; some eventually making statements against him to the council , bitterly complaining about the state of his property and his tenants. One of his friends- John Brait- who died last year, was convicted for racial abuse against a female tenant of his.
He was found guilty of breaching an ASBO from the courts, and access to benefits for the homeless were stopped, cutting off his income supply and eventually amounting to him losing all his tenants.
This outcome signalled a significant victory for the council, but Mr Crow alleged corruption and underhandedness between authorities in the council and the courts.
Mr. Crow represented himself unsuccessfully a few times, before later getting lawyers on legal aid to act on behalf, but he lost every case against the council.
Depression
Crow eventually suffered a notable depression as a result of his plight.
The usually vigorous and defiant former businessman became visibly subdued and reticent, in what was a marked change from his usual demeanour.
The once successful engineer who earned a good living working for the United Nations and several organisations in Saudi Arabia in the 80’s , before going into properties told this publication in 2020 that one of his greatest fears and regrets was that he would have nothing to leave for his children when he passes.
His situation was exacerbated when energy supplier Eon withdrew his electric supply due to dodgy avenues had used to evade charges and benefit from supply electricity to the property, leaving him in darkness and freezing cold for over a year.
His family said he had been charging his phone at Macdonald’s in the day time to maintain communication with the outside world.
”I think living without heating for over a year affecting his physical and mental health”, his brother said. It demoralised him, but it was difficult to help him”.
Three of the four flats he owned were repossessed by his mortgage providers after months of arrears, and he was unable to obtain credit to even rent another property. He subsequently lost two of his only childhood friends in 2022.
” I don’t think he will ever be back at that property, his brother said. The council have said they will go and clear it up. It’s a shame it has come to this. I just want him to get better”.
A neighbour of Mr Crow said about news of Mr Crow’s situation: ”I think that we have all pretty much put the nightmare that was, behind us now. It is peaceful without all the drama from the house.
”I work with people with dementia and feel desperately sad for family’s that experience this horrible disease. I hope that Bob finally finds some peace”.
A council spokesperson said “Whilst we cannot comment on the personal circumstances relating to any individual case, our social care teams work within a Statutory Framework and best practice guidance and are there to assess and when necessary to provide support to residents and their families. Anyone who is not happy with the care and support they have received, should contact the council to discuss this further”.