A landlord was found to be renting a “coffin-like” cupboard to a man in London as a room. Inspectors for Newham Council discovered the one-metre by two-metre understairs space in an overcrowded house in Beckton. According to the council, the four-bedroom house had already been fitted with 11 “sleeping spaces,” with bunk beds crammed into single rooms. Officers also discovered serious fire
A senior High Court judge has suggested that couples could be committing accidental bigamy after he cancelled 21 divorces organised by a disgraced former barrister. Sir James Munby, the president of the High Court’s family division, said Khalik Bhatoo used false addresses on the divorce petitions and had forged signatures and filled out forms on
Couples will be able to apply for divorce online as part of a £1 billion reform of the justice system. The scheme is being tested at three sites in the UK and is due to be extended to other centres in the coming months, the Ministry of Justice said. It is part of a £1bn
A benefits cheat who had over £50,000 in his bank account after receiving money from an inheritance has been sentenced after illegally claiming more than £30,000. Constantino Fenu, 63, was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court after pleading guilty to seven counts of benefit fraud. The court heard Fenu received benefits he was not entitled to including housing
The Court of Appeal allowed a husband’s appeal against an order made by a Family Division judge that he should pay his wife a lump sum even though a Russian court had previously made a consent order following Russian divorce proceedings in which they both had legal representation. Following an evaluation of all the relevant
A retired nurse is accused of creating false tenancy agreements and claimed she rented her £400,000 home in order to claim £66,000 in benefits that she wasn’t entitled to. Margaret Ayensu, 71, lied over a period of ten years and fraudulently claimed pensions credit and housing benefit. In addition, Ayensu also created several false letters
Princess Tessy of Luxembourg is splitting from her husband Prince Louis following an 11 year marriage. Princess Tessy is now facing accusations of being a ‘gold digger’ after she launched divorce proceedings in the London courts. Princess Tessie, 31, arrived for an initial hearing last week at the Royal Courts of Justice, in a bid
A landlord has been fined £100,000 after illegally converting a Barking home into seven studio flats. Nazmul Haq, 54, converted a five-bedroom family home, which was registered as a private address, into seven flats. Mr Haq further built an illegal extension to the property. Mr Haq first had an enforcement notice issued in March 2014.
An entrepreneur said to be worth more than £200million is ‘pleading poverty,’ according to his estranged wife’s divorce lawyers. The High Court heard that Andy Ruhan’s fortune was so large ‘it’s impossible to quantify.’ The 55-year-old who once owned 37 Thistle Hotels and sat on the board of the Lotus Formula One team,