By Gavin Mackinsosh-
Rogue landlord, Robert Crow, told a fine’s hearing on Monday that he has a ‘chaotic’ lifestyle, as he was taking to task over a £90k fine he has failed to pay over breaches of safety procedures to his property.
The notorious 70 year old who is at war wit both his neighbours and Southend Borough Council was grilled by Magistrates over his huge debts, as he escaped jail once again for failing to maintain his property in good condition.
After a 4 hour wait at Southend Magistrates Court for a hearing scheduled for 10a.m on Monday, the fine hearing for the unpopular landlord was heard. Mr. Crow had a few days earlier tried to justify the loud objections he vocally makes to his neighbours in front of his property where he calls them all sorts of name under the sun. He insists his neighbours are conspiring against him to see him closed down and gets very angry when told he is incapable of managing the property himself.
On Saturday, he gave us court papers in connection to a criminal behaviour order coming up next month, and letters from the Council to one of his residents claiming to have paid her rent, despite his rent takings being closed down. He says no rent has been paid into his account and that the court papers reveal flaws in the Court’s decision to punish him for the actions of others. He attempted to portray a background of his dispute with Southend Borough Magistrates on Monday, but was shut down as he interrupted Magistrates who questioned him about his income, which he said was unstable.
Crow was told that he agreed to pay £5,000 to begin with, after which he would pay the rest, but he interjected saying ” I didn’t agree to pay £5,000, it was imposed on me”.
When asked what his income was, the notorious landlord said : ”with all due respect to you, I have apparently been banned from renting my property and Southend Council have stopped my payment. I am not the conventional landlord, I am a Christian who takes on the homeless to save lives. My life is chaotic, I don’t keep a record of payments”.
SYMPATHY
Mr.Crow’s claim to be a Christian is believed to be one used to gain sympathy. A resident at his property told The Eye Of Media.Com: mr.Crow never talks about Christianity to us, all we see him do is express anger and swear when he is frustrated . He did help us out where we had nowhere to live, but I reckon he needs someone to manage this place because he is not capable of doing it on his own”.
The fine’s hearing was adjourned to May 14, when mr.Crow was told to provide a completed form detailing his income and outgoings to the court. Mr. Crow’s neighbours have complained bitterly about his continued violations of a court order allegedly forbidding him from having visitors and residents at his property. Mr.Crow has lost the original copy of the order, but protests the validity of it.
He has now ejected about half of his residents due to none payment of rent and says he is in the process of ejecting the outstanding three tenants residing in his property. On Saturday evening, mr.Crow had a shouting match with the editor when contesting the ambiguity of the court order which said he could only allow family members including a partner at the property.
He foolishly argued that a business partner satisfied the broad meaning of partner, but was told that the word partner had to be interpreted in the context of sexual partner, to which the ignorant landlord blindly disputed. His neighbours desperately want him closed down and have condemned both Southend Borough Council and the police for being slow to act to effect his removal.
Mr. Crow and his neighbours both blame the Council for behaving incompetently in handling their dispute. Two of his neighbours believe the Council have been ineffective in getting the landlord to comply with their orders.
The obnoxious landlord, who has another case in April for breaching a criminal behavioural order (CBO) insists that Southend Borough Council is very corrupt, citing Stuart Burrell jailed for fraud in January, after pleading guilty to three counts of fraud by abuse of position and one count of attempted fraud by abuse of position.
Burrell defrauded the council of £300,000 forged invoices and letters from housing suppliers while working for Southend Borough Council. He was jailed for 14 months, but the judge said he did not personally benefit from the fraud. Mr.Crow said: I believe Burrell was one of those who had an ulterior motive to close me down and arrange for the sale of my property for his own selfish gains. It is all well and good the judge saying he did not benefit from the fraud, but they might not know. Fraudsters have a way of hiding things”.
Mr.Crow has given this publication a five page dossier of his complaint against Southend Borough Council which he believes exposes them as a corrupt Council. In the meantime, the spotlight remains on him, and he has promised to begin to work on tidying up his front and back garden. With no income to pay his mortgage arrears let alone a court fine, mr.Crow’s back is against the wall. The smartest thing for him to do is to sell up and move on, but in his eyes that will be loosing a battle he is struggling to win anyway.