A landlord who refused to demolish an outbuilding he built in his garden without planning permission more than seven years ago has been ordered to pay £23,000.

Haig Squire said the structure in his garden in Augustine Road, Minster, on Sheppey, was there to store items belonging to tenants of his 35 properties.

The 47-year-old has now been fined £12,000 and must pay legal costs of almost £10,000 and a £2,000 surcharge - and will end up in prison if he fails to pay.

Swale council was first notified of the building on November 8, 2017, and realised it was in breach of planning control.

In May 2019, Squire was served an enforcement notice which required him to demolish it and restore the ground.

The enforcement notice was appealed but this was dismissed in December 2019 and he was ordered to demolish the building and return the land to its original condition by March 5, 2020.

However, he failed to do so and therefore continued to be in breach of the enforcement notice.

In June 2023, his case was sent from North Kent Magistrates Court to Maidstone Crown Court to be heard at Squire’s request.

He eventually admitted the offence on July 30 last year but by then a trial date had been fixed.

On Tuesday, January 7, Squire pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to breach of the enforcement notice.

At his sentencing at the same court on Friday, January 10, the judge, Recorder David Jeremy KC, said Squire had shown an “absolute and persistent” disregard for planning restrictions.

Recorder Jeremy told him he believed the outbuilding could be taken down in a “couple of days” adding: “In my view you have been playing the system for years.”

Squire, who in 2022 was convicted of leaving six large vehicles scattered around Sheppey, including in Marine Town, Sheerness, told the judge it was “optimistic” to believe it could be removed that quickly.

He said that time was needed to clear the land of rubbish and other items to make way for the removal of the outbuilding.

The judge then offered to adjourn the case for four weeks before sentencing to give him the opportunity to remove the building.

Squire, a dad-of-four, said: “I’d prefer to be sentenced, I don’t want this to be adjourned, it’s making me ill.”

After being offered another opportunity to adjourn the sentencing, Squire replied: “No your honour, I’d rather be sentenced.”

Prosecuting on behalf of Swale council, Peter Cruickshank told the court how the offence was committed from the moment Squire failed to comply with the enforcement notice.

While there are no sentencing guidelines for this type of offence, Cruickshank noted the outcomes of similar cases to the court.

Addressing the judge, he said: “£10,000 to £20,000 should be the appropriate fine with reference to other cases that have come before the court and this case.”

Sentencing, Recorder Jeremy said: “You came to court this morning and told me that you intend to demolish it.

“I gave you an option for applying to adjourn the sentence in which you could comply with the notice and remove the building.

“Your estimate of six months [to remove the building] was wholly unreasonable.

“You declined to adjourn the sentence. You never had any genuine intention to demolish the building and I sentence you on that basis.”

As part of his mitigation, Squire provided three documents which included his finances and list of properties as well as business costs.

He said the 35 properties as well as a car and a truck were his assets, but that he had no disposable income as everything had gone into his business as a landlord.

“I’ve buried my head in the sand,” the defendant added. “If I sold them all I would be left with nothing.”

But in response, the judge did not accept there was no value or equity in the properties after sale.

Recorder Jeremy said: “I take account of the absolute and persistent disregard of planning restrictions.

“I take into account the length of time the building has been there and the need to deter you and others from flouting planning restrictions in the way that you have.”

The judge ordered him to pay a fine of £12,000 for the enforcement breach as well as Swale council’s legal costs of £9,258.68 by September 30. He must also pay a victim surcharge of £2,000.

If he fails to pay, the default will be 12 months in prison. The requirements of the enforcement notice will still need to be complied with and progress in this regard will be monitored by the council.

Cllr Mike Baldock, chair of the Planning Committee, said: “The council has a duty to investigate planning breaches, and we take complaints from the public very seriously.

“We will always work with everyone involved to try and reach an amicable conclusion, but in this case the landlord refused to comply, ignoring our enforcement notice, and leaving us no choice but to go to court.

“He was negatively impacting his neighbours through noise and the position and size of the building whilst making an income from this building, that had no planning permission.

“This large fine should stand as a warning to those who want to flout our planning rules, which are there to make sure any developments are responsible, safe, and don’t have unreasonable impact on our neighbours.

“This was a long drawn-out saga so a big thank you to all of the officers involved who helped reach this positive conclusion.”