Bluff, Bluster, Bullying and, yes, Bullshit

From the Derby Evening Telegraph:

LANDLORDS could face prosecution if their rented properties are being used by tenants to grow drugs.

The warning comes after police discovered 120 cannabis plants in three rooms of a house in Slack Lane, Derby, on Saturday.

Sergeant Dave Simmonds said it was the responsibility of landlords to carry out regular checks on their properties and ensure they were not being misused. And he warned that owners could face prosecution under the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1971.

Sgt Simmonds, from Derbyshire police's city centre unit, said: "There is legislation and powers available to the police whereby landlords can be prosecuted if their properties are being used as a drugs house.

"Property owners or occupiers who allow their premises to be used for drug dealing, terrorism or prostitution can also face prosecution.

"Landlords need to be aware of what is going on inside their properties."

Police raided the house in Slack Lane at about 7pm. It follows a number of similar raids that have taken place in Derbyshire in recent weeks.

What are you going to stick them on for, Dave? The 'Renting to a Dodgy Oriental Geezer (Prohibition) Act'? The 'Letting A Property And Not Popping Round Every Week Act'? Nice to see you drop in a bit of terrorism and prostitution to spice up your mix and put the fear of god into landlords - let to a wrong 'un and you could wind up in Guantanamo or Algeria with 240 volts going through your wedding tackle to jog your memory.

I hope that someone in Derbyshire's finest has a word with someone with a bit of rank who can take Sergeant Dave into a quiet corner and give him a mighty bollocking along with a bit of advice not to make up the law as he goes along.


The whole article's here if you have the stomach for it.