In an illegal eviction case before Liverpool Crown Court a judge has said its "a feature of anyone's moral compass that they could not simply throw a tenant out onto the street simply because they had a need to use the property.".

The prosecution involved a landlord who returned to Warrington from Germany during the covid pandemic and needed somewhere to quarantine so threw his tenant's belongings into the street. The tenant had also been a friend of the landlord prior to the illegal eviction. The court was also told that the illegal eviction had caused a "ripple effect" whereby the tenant was left not only homeless but also jobless and unable to see his children for a significant period of time.

There was a signed tenancy agreement and the tenant paid the council tax and utility bills but the landlord initially denied the allegations telling police that there was no valid tenancy agreement and that the tenant was only contributing to bills on an "informal basis". Officers from Warrington council's homelessness team opened an investigation and subsequent prosecution of the landlord who had entered the property and changed the locks as well as putting the tenant's belongings out onto the street.

The landlord later pleaded guilty to the charges saying he had not been aware of landlord and tenants regulations in the UK. However the judge, Recorder Richard Leiper QC, said that having lived in the UK since 2012 the landlord's "position as a property owner who entered into a tenancy agreement meant he had no excuse not to understand the law.". The landlord was also ordered to pay £500 compensation to the tenant and £1000 in legal costs to Warrington council on top of the 24 week prison sentence which was suspended for 18 months.