A PROPERTY owner convicted of stalking a woman and engaging her in conversation of a sexual nature has been struck from the landlord’s register.
Joga Singh repeatedly approached the woman in Paisley town centre in November 2018, followed her and asked for money in return for permission to take photographs of her wearing underwear.
After appearing in court over the matter, he was told to carry out 252 hours of unpaid work in the community and was made the subject of a Non-Harassment Order for one year.
Mr Singh, who owns 14 properties, was also refused a Housing in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence by Glasgow City Council last year.
He appeared before the council’s licensing committee again this week, where his representative, Archie MacIver, said: “Mr Singh is 49 years old and has been involved in the rental market for 21 years.
"Many hundreds of tenants have passed through his care without issue.
“He has led a pretty blameless life until 2018. The behaviour on this occasion was out of character and inexplicable. He himself cannot provide an explanation on why he did this – was it some sort of midlife crisis, a breakdown? He just doesn’t know.
“The problem is that his moment of madness has brought a fairly good life crashing to a halt. He is a married man with three children but the family is separated as a result.
“He is utterly ashamed and remorseful. There is no running away from the fact that what happened here was extremely serious, distasteful and worrying.”
The committee was informed that all of Mr Singh’s properties in Glasgow were managed by letting agents, so he had no need to be in contact with his tenants.
Chairman of the committee, Councillor Alex Wilson, said: “This is a very serious matter. It’s not just a case of a marriage split. There are circumstances behind that.
“My concern is that the incident was of a sexual nature and approaching a female unknown to him. Yes, he may have got himself a letting agent, which is good, but did he notify the letting agents of his conviction?”
Mr Singh confirmed that he had.
Following a discussion, the committee agreed to remove Mr Singh from the landlords' register.
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