A letting agent and two directors have been found guilty of running an unlicensed house in multiple occupation.

The four-bedroom property had up to 27 people living in it, in conditions which included unsafe kitchen sockets, an internet modem being hard-wired into a light fitting, leaking water and fire safety issues.

Jay and Ralph Bernard, directors of Masons Estates in Ipswich, and the firm itself were prosecuted by the borough council and found guilty of 17 breaches of the Housing Act.

Magistrates said they believed evidence of a council officer who reported that between 14 and 27 people were living at the property, before a joint operation was carried out with police on November 21.

In court, solicitor Ian Persaud argued that the directors and company were unaware that the property was being lived in by more than the named tenants until the day that all the occupants were evicted.

The directors and company will be sentenced in the New Year, the local paper reports.

https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/masons-ralph-jay-bernard-suffolk-hmo-court-1-6422066