A tenant in Scotland who admitted threatening behaviour towards a gas engineer who his landlord had booked to fix the property's gas boiler is to face jail.

57-year-old Steven Bracy, who had been arrested previously when police arrived at his flat to break up a cannabis operation, refused to give gas engineer Ian Higgins access to the property on Gibson Terrace, Dundee (main image) when he arrived to repair the property's boiler, reports The Courier.

Higgins then returned to his vehicle after a short exchange but Bracy followed him with a hammer and made threats.

At a Dundee Sheriff Court hearing, it was revealed that Bracy, who was described as ‘not having particularly good mental health’ had been in dispute with his landlord and believed Higgins had been sent to sabotage his boiler rather than fix it.

“I think Mr Bracy acknowledges that the difficulty he had was not with Mr Higgins but with his landlord,” said Solicitor Ross Donnelly.

Sabotage

“Mr Bracy had formed the view that his landlord was attempting to sabotage his boiler.”

Bracy is due to sentenced on August 8th once a social work report about his past offences has been completed.

Access to properties presents a major and growing problem for private rental sector landlords, particularly when dealing with gas safety tests and/or maintenance for boilers, and a survey last year by Gas Safety Week revealed that half of landlords reported being denied access to a property for safety checks or inspections.

And at the moment there is very little a landlord can do if, like Bracy, a tenant refuses entry. If they continue to do so, a ‘gas access’ injunction must be secured from a court. If tenants do not comply with such injunctions, they may be held in contempt of court and face imprisonment or a fine.

Image credit: Google Streetview