My younger cousin is renting in an HMO in London and caught her landlord in the act of trying to undo the wiring on a bypassed electric meter. The tenants created enough of a diversion to stop him completely removing the evidence and he left quickly. Next day, the tenants called the energy company and reported suspected meter tampering, they sent an electrician who confirmed the meter had been tampered with and the electricity meter was being bypassed. The tenants explained that their rents are 'all bills included' and they have nothing to gain from doing such a thing. The engineer told them they have nothing to worry about and installed a new digital meter. He took lots of photos for evidence and put the old meter in a special tamper proof box along with all the wires her had removed and uploaded his report. My cousin asked what will happen now and the engineer said it will be looked at and investigated but said he wasn't sure how hard they would be on the landlord as technically it is a 'first offence'. We are all bloody OUTRAGED that this scumbag landlord has put 5 people's lives at risk just so he can pocket more money that he is charging them for utility bills that he never pays! PLEASE someone tell me that at the very least the bastard will get a criminal record? If anyone has worked at an energy company, can you tell us what is likely to happen, we are hoping for a massive fine and a criminal record - they could have been electrocuted or burnt to death! I am so angry about this!