A LANDLORD has narrowly escaped being sent to jail after he illegally kicked out a mother and son from one of his properties.

Tahir Khaliq was given a two year conditional sentence after he pleaded guilty to illegally evicting tenant Carole Gregory and 15-year-old Gary Kay from 170 Leigh Road, Leigh.

The 33-year-old, of The Fairways, Whitefield, Manchester, was also ordered to pay Wigan Council costs of £750.

Mrs Gregory, speaking to the Journal, said: "It's taken a long time to sort out, but I'm very pleased and relieved he has been prosecuted."

The case at Leigh Magistrates' Court was the first time the local authority has used the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 to prosecute a landlord

Mrs Gregory, 38, started having problems with Khaliq as soon as she moved into the property in January 1999. She claimed he would not wait the accepted six weeks for the rent to be arranged and tried to evict her.

But staff at Wigan Council's Housing Aid told her to stay in the terraced house. She did, but after many problems finally moved out four weeks ago when the landlord used the correct legal channels to evict her. She is now living in temporary accommodation at a hostel in Wigan.

Mrs Gregory was very grateful for the help she received from the local authority's Housing Aid staff.

A spokesman for the department said: "We hope that this sentence handed down by the magistrates will carry a powerful message to any other landlord in the borough that, when planning to terminate a tenancy, they should follow the correct legal process.

"The fact that we brought this action is a sign of our determination to protect innocent local residents from hardship and homelessness."

Director of Housing Peter Gee said: "The tiny minority of bad landlords can cause untold misery to their tenants and families.

"Our extended Housing Aid service now has the capacity to advise both tenants and landlords of the correct legal procedure for eviction.

"However, we won't hesitate to act on reports of harassment by landlords against their tenants."

By law, landlords must give tenants two months' notice to move out, which will be followed if needed by an application for a possession order and then back to the courts for a bail notice to evict.

As well as pleading guilty to the offence, Khaliq apologised for any distress he had caused to Mrs Gregory and her son.