Edinburgh landlord who dumped family's belongings in garden wins £1250 on Judge Rinder show

AN Edinburgh landlord who dumped a devastated family's belongings in a garden has won £1,250 from the former tenant on TV show Judge Rinder.

David Love, 37, appeared on the ITV show to claim its highest payout of £5,000 for damages to his property and disposal of the family’s possessions.

The millionaire former boxer claimed he wanted £1,750 for his “time” and repairs to the flat Donna Newby, 41, and her family lived in for nine years.

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Mother-of-nine Donna Newby with the remains of her property which was dumped in garden in front of her flat when she came home to find she had been evicted. Picture: SWNSMother-of-nine Donna Newby with the remains of her property which was dumped in garden in front of her flat when she came home to find she had been evicted. Picture: SWNS
Mother-of-nine Donna Newby with the remains of her property which was dumped in garden in front of her flat when she came home to find she had been evicted. Picture: SWNS
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The incident took place on March 9, 2017, after an eviction notice was served against the family and a date for them to leave the property in Drylaw was set for March 7.

Having failed to leave the property, Mr Love and three others visited the flat and began disposing of the possessions by throwing them from the second-floor flat’s balcony.

Mr Love described the family’s possessions as “worthless junk” and laughed after he claimed: “If there was anything of value I would have kept it and sold it.”

Mum-of-nine Donna denied damage to property and counterclaimed £4,400 for the loss of her possessions many of which were broken and left dumped in the garden.

Between May and September 2017, Donna’s housing benefit was sanctioned after her sister passed away and she missed a benefits meeting.

Speaking of her sister’s death, heartbroken Donna said: “She was the love of my life, we were so close.

“Now it feels like I’ve lost everything.”

On January 10, 2018, Love obtained an eviction notice from the Sheriff’s Office, and an eviction date set for March 7 to offer Donna and her family enough time to either sort out her benefits or leave the property.

Mr Love said he wanted to “give Donna the maximum possible time allowed to carry out the eviction process so that she could get her benefits backdated so she could continue staying in the property if that was to happen”.

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Asked by Judge Rinder what the “state” of the property was when he took possession of it on March 7, Love said: “The place was covered in rubbish, I don’t think anything had been binned for over a month.

“There was a lot of junk lying around.”

Mr Love, who received back payments for rent in a previous court hearing, claimed £100 for a broken sink, £400 for broken window pains, locks and handles, and £1,600 for damaged floors and skirting boards.

The businessman wished to claim £400 for cleaning costs and £450 to remove her possession from the garden and take them to the dump.

He also noted a £300 alarm that he claimed had been broken by the family, and a £314 emergency door repair that he claimed wasn’t authorized by him and was “ridiculous” and “certainly wasn’t worth it”.

He says he offered Donna the chance to collect her possessions or to have them put in storage for £200 on March 7.

Two days later Mr Love carried out the removal of the family’s belongings.

A letter from Donna’s daughter read: “I was with my mum when she got a call about her stuff being thrown out on the street.

“It just looked like rubble when we got there.

“When we arrived David was still throwing things off the balcony - David looked like he was really enjoying it.

“He kept laughing at my mum, provoking her.

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“I was really upset for my mum, it was just wrong - we were all crying.

“David had broken everything he could, it was evil the way he acted.

“All my mum’s things had been maliciously destroyed.”

In response to Judge Rinder saying his actions were “not an advisable thing to do”, Mr Love admitted: “It’s not the best thing to do.”

Mr Love threw all the family’s possessions 30ft from the property’s balcony, including five TVs and a sofa bed.

Donna, whose dumped possessions also included her baby daughter’s memory box, who died at just five-weeks-old, said: “It’s just disgusting, we’ve got nothing apart from a couple of bags.”

Mr Love was subsequently awarded £1,250 for the broken sink, window and alarm which Judge Rinder claimed was a result of “Donna’s negligence”.

But Judge Rinder warned the landlord about failing to keep a regular log of damages.

In accordance with Scots Law, it was found that Mr Love hadn’t acted unlawfully, despite Judge Rinder expressing “every sympathy for what took place”.

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After the ruling, Donna said to Love: “You’re a vile, vile human being.

“Everybody thinks you’re disgusting.”

Judge Rinder’s TV court is not an official court of law but participants sign a contract agreeing to abide by Rinder’s rulings.

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