A landlord in Northern Ireland has been handed a jail sentence of two months suspended for two years after a court found him guilty of harassing a couple who had rented a property from him, including an attempt to illegally evict them, it has been reported.

County Down landlord and former solicitor Edmund Sinclair (main image, inset) appeared at Newtownards Magistrate Court to be sentenced after being convicted of nine charges including three of unlawfully depriving a tenant of their occupation and six counts of causing his tenants to give up their occupation, actions that took place between February 1 and May 3, 2022.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that 56-year-old Sinclair signed a tenancy agreement between himself and tenant Lady Amanda Duran and her partner but soon afterwards threatened to change the locks on the property while they were out with their belongings still inside, turned off the electricity, meddled with the heating system and restricted access to the property (main image), which is adjacent to his home in Holywood outside Belfast.

He also told a local Environmental Officer that the couple had to move out regardless of the illegality of his actions.

Harrassed

Duran, who was ill at the time with heart problems, had previously told the court during the two-day trial that Sinclair harassed her with phone calls and served her with a ‘notice to quit’ that gave the couple nine days to move out rather than the statutory 12 weeks under Northern Ireland’s then Coronavirus legislation.

The judge told Sinclair in his comments prior to the sentence being handed down that his actions meant his legal career was now “effectively over”.

During the trial Sinclair claimed he had been duped into signing a tenancy agreement and during the trial maintained his innocence.

Sinclair had already been suspended by the Law Society. This case is not the first time he has faced legal proceedings after being issued with a non-molestation order in 2023 following the break-up of his marriage.

Sinclair has an automatic right to appeal the sentence at a County Court.

Read the Belfast Telegraph article in full.

Picture credits: Google Streeview/Edmund Sinclair.