A landlord who allowed nine people to live in a house in cramped squalid conditions has been fined almost £26,000 after the filthy property was discovered.
Belal Salik Choudhury charged the seven adult tenants and two children £2,300 per month to rent the "sickening" house in Forest Gate, east London.
The conditions were discovered by housing officers, who also found Choudhury did not have a licence to let the property out.
Inspectors found carpets and walls covered in dirt, cracked windows, black mould growing in the bathroom, exposed plugs and fridges strewn across the garden.
Choudhury, from Ilford, was found guilty at Thames Magistrates' Court of 24 separate disrepair offences under housing management regulations, for which he was fined £20,500. He was also fined £5,000 for other offences and made to pay £738 costs.
After the conviction was secured, Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales said: "I accompanied the housing enforcement team when they first visited this property which was in a disgusting state.
"The tenants were subjected to overcrowded and dangerous conditions that put their health at risk. To subject children to these conditions is particularly sickening."
Choudhury, from Ilford, was also asked to produce the latest fixed electrical installation and gas safety certificate, which he has not yet done.
