Thomas Flight: Tenants of rogue landlord speak out

Layla Link lived in one of Flight's mould-infested flats

Two former tenants of a rogue landlord who was fined £12,000 have described their experiences.

Thomas Flight, 56, from Bristol, pleaded guilty to consumer protection offences in January, after exploiting and harrassing his tenants.

Damien Scarpellini and Layla Link, who lived in one of his flats, claim Flight withheld their deposits and gave made up names when raising mould complaints.

The BBC has attempted to contact Mr Flight via his solicitors.

Mr Scarpellini said he was harassed by Flight who claimed he had damaged furniture

"We won a judgement against him in a small claims court but they didn't know who to send it to as we never met the landlord," Mr Scarpellini said.

Mr Flight's dealings were first revealed in a Bristol Cable article, prompting many former tenants to come forward with their stories.

Ms Link, who lived at 21, Portland Square, in 2021, said her flat was riddled with furry mould which covered their furniture and her clothes.

The flat in Portland Square was covered in mould

"It wasn't there when we moved in, but then a few months in the mould appeared, it was everywhere.

"We made complaints via email as we didn't have a number for the landlord, and we were told it was our fault as we were drying clothes inside.

"Sometimes the emails were signed off as 'Tommy', sometimes it was 'Jason'. I think the agent was made up," she said.

The mould also affected Ms Link's clothing

Mr Scarpellini lived at the same address in 2014.

"We never had a landlord named, whenever we queried our tenancy agreement we were told we had to pay to see it and the inventory," he said.

"When we left, we were sent photos claiming damages for things like a sofa which he tried to charge us £800 for, when we saw the exact same sofa for £275 at Ikea.

"He also took pictures of furniture in other flats which was damaged and tried to claim that was ours."

Mr Scarpellini said they never met Flight, and instead was shown around the property by a caretaker.