Court fines landlady $3300 over Downer slum boarding house

Li Wei, formerly of Hawker, pleaded guilty to breaching public health regulations in the ACT Magistrates Court yesterday.

Wei, who now lives in China with her two children, did not appear in court but was represented by her solicitor.

The woman and her former husband, Jason Qiang Hua Fan, 50, faced criminal charges after health authorities shut down five rental properties owned by either Wei or Fan in July last year.

It was alleged that the houses in Downer, Scullin, Melba, Macquarie and Ngunnawal were overcrowded, filthy and subject to illegal renovations.

More than 100 tenants, including young children, had to be taken into emergency accommodation after the alleged boarding houses were closed down.

Fan has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges.

Wei pleaded guilty to one count of allowing insanitary conditions and one count of carrying out a public health risk activity, specifically a boarding house, without a licence.

Yesterday, the court heard health officers found up to 32 people were living in the Downer home, which was owned by Wei, and tenants were forced to share two showers, three toilets and two cooking areas, including a makeshift kitchen in the garage.

The tenants paid cash which was allegedly collected by Fan every week while Wei also regularly visited the property.

Several tenants told officers the toilets and kitchens were filthy and they avoided using the showers.

One man found dead cockroaches in a refrigerator and in his room, where he slept on a mattress on the floor.

Wei's solicitor argued that although his client was the owner of the Downer home, she was not the driving force behind the plan to turn it into a boarding house.

The court heard her former husband had offered to alter the home, adding extra bedrooms, and ran the property as a boarding house.

It was also unclear how much financial gain Wei had received from the property, he said.

But the prosecution argued Wei had sometimes collected rent from tenants, drafted the tenancy agreements and was clearly the recipient of the funds alongside her ex-husband.

The court heard Wei had not expressed remorse for her actions and appeared to be sorry only that she lost money on the sale of the Downer house.

The prosecution argued she had no insight into her behaviour and offered a ''self-serving'' justification for running the boarding house.

Wei's lawyer said his client was a single mother who owned and ran a Charnwood restaurant.

The restaurant had been investigated over allegations of unhygienic conditions and had closed down on the very day the ACT Government shut down the rental property in Downer. Wei later sold the house and moved to China after spending much of her time at work in the restaurant.

Magistrate Lorraine Walker said Wei's involvement was limited to one boarding house and there had been no material risk of insanitary conditions.

Ms Walker fined Wei $1650 for each of the offences, ordering her to pay a total of $3300 plus court costs.

She noted Wei had removed herself to China and hoped she would organise to pay the fines from abroad.