Landlord to pay £17,000 over 'death trap' Walsall house

A landlord whose "death trap" house endangered the lives of his tenants by ignoring fire regulations has been ordered by a judge to pay to pay more than £17,000.

Residents fled a fire at the three-storey house in Walsall owned by Pervaz Khan, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Crews were called to the second-floor flat after tenant Blessing Ajibola smelled smoke coming from his bedroom and discovered a blaze had started near a gas fire. A pregnant woman and her partner were asleep downstairs.

Ayanda Nqezane and Kenneth Williams were in their flat at the time the fire broke out on January 21, 2009.

But no smoke alarm had been fitted, and they were only alerted by the noise of firefighers arriving at the property in Birmingham Road.

Crews discovered a string of fire safety breaches.

Mr Tariq Mahmood, mitigating, told the court Khan, of Sutton Road, Walsall was unaware of the regulations and property was managed by letting agents.

The 46-year-old businessman was fined £9,000 after he admitted five counts of breaching fire regulations. He was also ordered to pay £8,165 costs.