A ROGUE landlord who repeatedly harassed tenants and unlawfully evicted a man, throwing his belongings out of a window, has been spared jail.

And Sandhya Anand, of Old Road, Headington, Oxford, continued to deny any wrongdoing on the day of her sentencing telling probation officers that she had been a victim of a 'miscarriage of justice'.

Oxford Magistrates' Court heard yesterday how the 51-year old owner of two homes in Headington and East Oxford had already been convicted at an earlier trial.

Despite not turning up to the trial on April 12 she continued to maintain her innocence and deny the nine charges relating to a house she owned and rented at York Place, Oxford.

After finding her guilty of counts including unlawful eviction and failing to obtain a licence to run a HMO, the court heard as she was sentenced how she had repeatedly 'harassed' her tenants between October 25 2016 and March 17 last year, before locking one out of his home.

Sentencing, District Judge Kamlesh Rana said: "This case involved your position as a landlord and you tenants and your obligations as a landlord in respect of those premises.

"Essentially you persisted in harassing those tenants by attending that property whenever you pleased, creating a hostile atmosphere in which to live.

"You then created a pretence that you lived there."

The court heard that Anand had eventually gone on to 'lock out' one of the tenants from the property and had his personal belongings passed to him through a window while he was out on the street.

During the subsequent investigation by Oxford City Council it became clear that Anand did not have a licence to operate a HMO and had failed to produce documents including tenancy agreements and rent deposit information.

The judge added that Anand had 'manipulated' investigators as well as the court process by her repeated failures to attend hearings.

The court also heard from probation officers who said that Anand had shown no remorse for her crimes.

She claimed to be the victim of 'repeated hate crimes' and said that her guilty verdict was a miscarriage of justice, the court heard.

Giving out her sentence the judge told the court that the offences were so serious she had to impose a custodial sentence, albeit one in which she could suspend.

For the two counts of unlawfully evicting an individual and three counts of harassment she was given a six-month jail term, suspended for 18 months.

For charges of operating a house in multiple occupancy without a licence, failing to comply with housing notice obligations and obstruction there was no separate penalty recorded.

Anand must also pay court costs of £13,467 and a victim surcharge of £115.