Fire victim’s father ‘horrified’ after learning landlord was renting flats
THE father of a student who died in a fire that broke out in a “death-trap” flat has spoken of his horror at learning the landlord responsible had resumed renting out properties.
Sandy Fraser’s son, James, perished alongside his friend Daniel Heron when they became trapped inside a basement flat owned by Harpal Singh when a fire destroyed the property in Glasgow in March 1999.
An inquiry into the deaths of the 20-yearolds heard the basement flat in Melrose Street, Woodlands, had metal bars over the windows, which prevented the occupants from escaping.
James’s mother, Lucy, also told how her son died only hours after he phoned to ask her to bring smoke alarms to the basement flat.
Mr Singh, who was jailed for 30 months for perjury after he lied during the inquiry, has now been barred from being a landlord following an investigation by Glasgow City Council.
Yesterday, the 64-year-old was found to be unfit to act as a landlord after it was revealed he was in control of a 14-property portfolio despite being not holding a licence.
Council officers discovered the flats lacked basic fire safety measures, and ordered six to be closed.
Mr Fraser, of Balmaha, Stirlingshire, said it was clear Mr Singh had learned nothing from his son James’s death.
He said: “On the basis Harpal Singh is back out of prison and does not seemed to have learned anything about the tragedy in 1999, I am horrified.
“We hoped after James and Daniel’s accident he would have changed his ways, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
“People from rural areas should be able to send their children to the city and know they’re as safe as they can be.”
Mr Fraser added the family have struggled to come to terms with James’s death, and he remains in their thoughts “every day”.
He said: “After an accident like that, you lose your son, you have to just get on with life. We have various businesses we’ve been working hard on.
“But there isn’t a day that goes by I don’t think about James and what he’d be doing. I speak for his mother, brothers and sisters there as well. We have to move forward and I hope the city is a better place now for the incident.”
Glasgow City Council had been building a case against Mr Singh since he applied to become a landlord again five years ago.
A catalogue of potentially life-threatening defects was uncovered by inspectors during a visit to the Mr Singh’s various properties last November.
Problems included a lack of smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms, damaged floors, damp, windows that do not open, a leaking boiler, no window vents and cracked windows.
Mr Singh now possibly faces a £50,000 fine for acting as an unlicensed landlord and has also been ordered to pay a £150,000 council tax bill.
During a hearing to discuss his licence application, councillors became exasperated with the 64-year-old’s evasive answers to questions on the safety of his properties. He had claimed to know nothing of the dangers uncovered by officers.
Bailie John Kane, chairman of the committee, said: “You are saying you visit your properties every day, but you do not see the problems our officers pick up on?
“The legislation that is in place and how it is operated in Glasgow is all about ensuring people are safe in their homes.
“There are rules and you have a pattern of totally and utterly disregarding those rules.”
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “Officers from the Landlord Registration Unit have worked extremely hard to gather the evidence that has led to this decision.”
He added: “We are pleased the members of the committee found that the applicant is not a fit and proper person to be a landlord.”
People should be able to send their children to the city and know they’re as safe as can be