The owner of an unoccupied Sidcup property, fined and prosecuted in October 2022 for failing to maintain it, has again been fined for not complying with the initial Community Protection Notice.

The owner, Mr Roger Thompson of Admers Wood, Vigo, Gravesend, received the maximum fine of £2,500 and was ordered to also pay the maximum victim surcharge of £1,000 and all costs.

He will now have to pay a total of £4,442.05. The court also granted a Criminal Behaviour Order.  If he is found guilty of breaching the CBO, he could be sent to prison.

The rear of the property was completely covered in overgrown vegetation. Fences surrounding the property had collapsed and the front garden was in such a bad state that it had been used by passers-by to dispose of rubbish.

Mr Thompson was first fined for breaching the Community Protection Notice (CPN) in October 2022.  The Notice required Mr Thompson to take steps to maintain the vegetation, rear garden, infrastructure and surrounds of the premises to prevent detriment to the amenity of the area and the quality of life of others in the locality, contrary to the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

Mr Thompson failed to take any steps to comply with this Notice and was again prosecuted and fined the maximum amount, as well as the maximum victim surcharge and told to pay all costs.

Bexley’s Cabinet Member for Place, Cllr Diment said:

I hope that this fine and the Criminal Behaviour Order serve as a warning to other homeowners who leave empty properties to get into this kind of disgusting disrepair. If the owner fails to now address these long overdue issues, we won’t hesitate to take further action.”