Housing empire boss fined for flytipping contents of family home in street

Subramaniam Sathiyavadivelu, 53, of Wembley, was caught out after Harrow Council uncovered a mountain of flytipping behind residents' homes which he had hired a rogue contractor to dispose of.

The company boss was told to pay £14,675 after pleading guilty on behalf of Sathy Estates Ltd, which has three London offices - in Stanmore, Harrow and Harlesden.

The business lets out over 600 homes across northwest London, with an annual turnover of £6-7 million, Harrow Magistrates' Court heard on June 10.

The defendant admitted two charges under the Environmental Protection Act. He was fined £9,000 for allowing waste to be dumped on land, and £2,500 for failure to produce waste transfer notes - official documents showing how it was disposed.

The company evicted a family-of-seven from a house in Edgware at the end of August last year. Staff gave the Somali family just 20 minutes to leave because a new tenant had signed the lease.

The family, who had to move in with relatives, left the scene with a car load's worth of possessions and returned later to find the rest had gone after the lettings company used a rogue contractor to get rid of everything else in the house.

Harrow Council's Envirocrime team began investigating the case after receiving calls about a mountain of household items behind garages in Marsh Road, Pinner on September 1.

Officers discovered a significant collection of possessions - from mattresses, fridge freezers, clothes, carpets and other personal items.

The waste was quickly linked to the Edgware address and from this the officers tracked down Sathy Estates, which admitted not taking reasonable measures to ensure the proper disposal of the house contents.

The court also ordered the defendant pay £3,000 costs and a £15 victim's surcharge. A further £160 was paid to a resident who had to meet the costs of having the waste removed. T

he chair of the bench said: "As we have heard these are very serious offences, it is your responsibility to see that waste is properly disposed off and not up to the tax payer to pay for this to be cleared up."

The defendant's guilty plea was taken into account as the total amount payable could have amounted to £20,000.

Cllr Susan Hall, cabinet member for environment services at Harrow Council, said: "Not only did this man see fit to decant a family's household contents into the street; he chose to do it on open land and expected Harrow residents to pick up the bill.

"Harrow Council is in business to deliver cleaner and safer streets, and this action was an affront to local people. This fine sends a signal that others who chose to blight our streets through their selfish actions can expect a court summons."