A ‘rogue landlord’ who waged a campaign of harassment and intimidation against a young mother he illegally evicted has lost his bid to overturn his conviction.

Joel Zwiebel, of Hackney, and his property company Interpage Limited were found guilty of two offences under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 in November 2016 and ordered to pay a total of £10,500 in fines and court costs.

Another man, Derrick Stuart, who has been the subject of a BBC Rogue Traders investigation, was also convicted but did not appeal the decision.

They also had to pay their victim £2,000 as compensation.

Although Mr Zwiebel and Interpage appealed the decision, a judge at Kingston Crown Court threw the appeals out on February 16.

Mr Zwiebel and Interpage will be re-sentenced on March 13 by a Crown Court judge, who will be able to give a harsher sentence than was available to the magistrates’ court that originally convicted them.

In the original trial, the court heard the woman and her son were living in a rented flat in Queenstown Road, Battersea, which was in disrepair for years with severe damp.

Mr Zwiebel refused to do anything about the situation so the woman began withholding her rent, which prompted her landlord to begin eviction proceedings.

The council then intervened and negotiated an agreement in which she would pay the rent she owed if Mr Zwiebel carried out immediate repairs.

He almost immediately reneged on the deal and switched off her gas and electricity supply, even thought it was the middle of winter.

He then changed the locks so she could not enter her home and it took 18 months to get back her possessions which were mostly broken.

Wandsworth’s housing spokesman Councillor Paul Ellis said: “I am absolutely delighted these appeals have been comprehensively dismissed. It has been a good day for justice and fairness.

“This was an utterly appalling display by these men.

“They waged a disgraceful and unforgivable campaign of harassment against this mother and her son.

“To switch off their gas and electricity in the middle of winter showed a shocking lack of compassion so I am pleased the court has upheld these convictions.

“Now the judge will be able to impose a new sentence and I hope it will be a salutary one that serves as a warning to other landlords thinking of following the same illegal path.”