Landlord in appeal case abandons Ferrari outside
AMILLIONAIRE businessman convicted of illegally evicting tenants turned up at court – and brazenly parked his £200,000 Ferrari on the pavement outside.
Zahid Khan, 30, from Birmingham was appealing against his convictions at Birmingham Crown Court, where half the charges were dropped.
He was originally found guilty of six charges by city magistrates after being accused of forcing out professionals who had rented his luxury home in Yardley Wood Road, Moseley.
The court had heard claims that he and another man ordered them to leave the house, and threatened to change the locks if they did not.
Mr Khan was ordered to carry out 150 hours of community services after being convicted of the six charges.
But after the appeal, the court upheld only three of the charges – interfering with the peace and comfort of tenants, failing to provide adequate smoke alarms and failing to obtain an HMO (House in Multiple Occupation) licence for the property. The appeal dismissed the other three convictions for failing to ensure the property was kept in good and clean decorative repair, failure to ensure the internal structure of the property was maintained in good repair; and failure to ensure that any fixtures, fittings or appliances were maintained in good repair. Mr Khan was originally ordered to pay £5,700 by the courts but was asked to pay an additional £2,000 after his appeal. The millionaire businessman, who turned up at the hearing in his Ferrari 458 Spider, welcomed the three charges being overturned. He said he now planned to appeal against his remaining three convictions. “I will be re-appealing for the whole case to be thrown out as I have overwhelming evidence which supports my innocence,” said Mr Khan. “The council has not carried out their enquiries fairly and failed to bring forward the main witness who was responsible for the let.” Mr Khan also said he would be bringing a civil claim against the tenants, who he blamed for causing damage to his property.