Mother-to-be terrorised by smash and grab landlord

A LANDLORD removed the windows and front door from the home of a pregnant teenager as she cowered inside, less than a month before giving birth.

Property developer Steven Simpson took it into his own hands to evict Michaela Landless, who was more than eight months pregnant and struggling to pay rent.

Cupar Sheriff Court yesterday heard the 18-year-old was left crying hysterically in her dressing gown after Simpson, 48, ordered his three sons to rip out windows and the front door of her two-bedroom home in Cupar.

Ms Landless, who later gave birth to a boy, said she had no idea what was going on but that she was awoken to hear “someone drilling and kicking at the door”.

Simpson shouted at her to come to the door, but she instead made a panic-stricken phone call to police.

She said: “I was terrified. I was such a mess and could not stop crying and shaking.”

Ms Landless said the door was eventually ripped from its hinges by one person as others began to scale ladders outside the first-floor flat to remove the windows.

Simpson then removed fuses from the electricity box.

Ms Landless said: “When the police arrived I wanted to make a cup of tea so I could calm myself down but there was no power left.

“I just could not calm myself – I was heavily pregnant and with the hormones and everything that was going on I was just really scared.”

Ms Landless said she had moved out her mother’s house as she “needed more space” and had agreed to rent a flat from Simpson for £500 a month. She then found out Fife Council would only pay half the rent, but said she intended to still make the entire payment.

Ms Landless said Simpson had served notice of his intention to evict her seven days before the alleged incident but she understood legislation meant she had two months to comply, and police confirmed this was the case.

PC Robert Price arrived at the scene about 11:30am, to find no front door on the home. He saw one workman “carrying a window” and one removing another window, but he told him to “leave it alone” until he could work out what was happening.

He said that when officers told a “very unhappy and agitated” Simpson to follow proper procedures, he replied: “It is cheaper my way.”

The officer added: “I took that to mean it was cheaper than having to go through the courts.”

Simpson admitted removing the windows and doors, claiming he was only trying to “repair them”, and thought Ms Landless had left the property. But he was found guilty of acting in a manner that was likely to “interfere with the peace and comfort” of Ms Landless, knowing it would cause her to leave the premises.

Sheriff Charles Macnair said: “These were actions that he could reasonably have conceived would have caused a pregnant 18-year-old to leave her property. This girl must have been very frightened.” He deferred sentence until next month.