Landlord of rat-infested and rubbish-strewn Derbyshire homes receives 10-month prison sentence

The sentence was handed out at Chesterfield Justice Centre this week to landlord Martin Ambler, following a successful prosecution by Bolsover District Council.

The defendant owned and let a number of properties on the West Lea estate in Clowne. Since attending court in August 2022 - where he pleaded guilty to four counts of breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order - he had breached the Order and court instructions by not providing the relevant information on a number of conditions that had been set.

Council leader Steve Fritchley said, “Whilst the vast majority of private landlords are good or excellent, this should serve as a warning to landlords to look after your properties and tenants or face the consequences. This has been a long process, but as a responsible council we were determined to protect our residents and get the right outcome for them.

During inspections of the defendant’s properties, council officers found one of the properties was infested with rats and because of structural defects, the rats continued to gain access to the property.

Droppings were found on a mattress, a child’s artwork had been chewed and the rats had even chewed through a water pipe causing a significant leak.

This family home contained numerous category one hazards – posing the most serious risk to health - and defects included holes in walls, gaps in windows that were falling apart, doors that didn’t close properly and external doors which allowed wind and water to get into the property. Mr Ambler failed to rectify the issues despite the Council’s repeated requests and his obligations under the Criminal Behaviour Order.

At another property owned by Mr Ambler, he failed to remove large amounts of fly tipped refuse from the gardens and council officers also found Mr Ambler was letting a property with metal shutters attached to the windows.

Cllr Fritchley added: “The properties were in a dire state and no-one should have to live like this in this day and age.”