A LANDLORD has been fined after attempting to illegally evict a young mother and her nine-week-old baby.

Sony Darshan, of Lytton Road, Oxford, pleaded guilty when he appeared at Oxford Magistrates Court on Monday to the attempted unlawful eviction of his tenant Joan Cable and her three children, one of whom was just nine weeks old.

The 55-year-old was ordered to pay a fine of £650, plus costs of £1,205 and a £65 victim surcharge.

Oxford City Council said magistrates were told that Darshan turned up with a crowbar at his tenant’s home in Oliver Road, Cowley, on June 29 last year with his two sons.

They were said to have pushed past Ms Cable, who was alone with her baby son, and started to remove the front door lock, telling the tenant that she must leave her home immediately as Darshan wanted his house back.

Ms Cable called the police and officers stopped the eviction, advising her to inform the tenancy relations officer at Oxford City Council.

Councillor Ed Turner, deputy leader of the city council, said: “The courts have sent out a strong message by tackling this rogue landlord.

“It is the council’s responsibility to help protect the vulnerable and we are working hard to make sure tenants in the private rented sector in Oxford are not being exploited.

“There is a clear legal process for landlords who want to evict their tenants and the courts have backed up our policy of taking tough enforcement action against those who illegally take tenants’ homes from them.”