A London cowboy developer, Abraham Dodi, 61, has been fined £63,000 after a series of scaffolding violations and a failed attempt to dupe the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) with ‘fraudulent’ photos.
Dodi attended Southwark Crown Court as his real estate company, Nofax Enterprises Limited, was hit with the hefty fine and an order to pay more than £25,000 in prosecution costs on Tuesday 18 March, MyLondon reports.
According to the online crime magazine, the Honorary Recorder of Southwark Judge Usha Karu said Mr Dodi’s firm must cough up within five years after a series of failures to put in measures, and respond to HSE notices, about scaffolding safety, fire risks, and dust management during the redevelopment of a planned four-storey residential block and a basement youth club at 101 Dalston Lane in Hackney from late 2019 to early 2021.
“Formerly the site of St Matthias Boys Club, which was set up in 1968 to put on sporting activities for kids, the old building was sold for £2.8million so it could be turned into nine flats with a deal to secure the youth club’s future.
“After completion, flats were listed from £450,000, while the price of the ground floor commercial space was listed in excess of £1.1million. It appears the ground floor is now being used for personal fitness training, while the basement is currently listed for £550,000.
“Work began on the development in February 2018, but in early 2020 a member of the public complained about unsafe practices on the scaffolding which had been erected over the busy road, said prosecutor Shauna Ritchie.
“This sparked the first HSE visit to the site on February 26, 2020, where the inspector identified unsafe practices and a lack of edge protection on the scaffold.
“After looking at the Nofax Enterprises file, the same inspector also identified a series of safety issues involving the developer dating back 2014, including developments on Station Road, Coleridge Road in Crouch End, and Kingsland Road in Dalston.
“A meeting about the issues was arranged with the company managers, but it had to be cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.
“During a subsequent site visit, Mr Dodi attended and promised to take action on the safety issues. But when HSE returned on October 28 2020, the scaffolding was still unsafe and there were no fire alarms.
“Further site visits by HSE inspector Gordon Nixon revealed continuing issues, including with dust management, flammable waste near ignition sources, and unsafe scaffolding,” the magazine reports.
