DORCHESTER businessman Farzin Hakimi will be ordered to pay more than £170,000 after a judge decided that he had forced five people out of their homes using violence and intimidation.

Hakimi, 47, was sued for damages after leaseholders claimed he had used terror tactics to get them out of Phoenix House in High East Street.

Judge Charles Wade declared that all the evidence given by the five - three of whom had 99-year leases on their flats in the building - is to be recorded as fact after Hakimi failed to turn up at the hearing at a Swindon civil court.

The judge was told how Hakimi assaulted four of his tenants, broke the doors down and threatened one of the tenants while they were in bed and even made threats to kill one of them in a bid to claim the properties as his own.

The judge also granted a two-year injunction to the claimants, which should prevent Hakimi from approaching any of them.

But Hakimi said in a letter to the court that he will not abide by any court orders. "I will not be attending any further court appearances for non-existent cases," he said.

During his summing up, Mr Wade accepted that Hakimi had:

Ordered a nightclub bouncer to smash the windows of 28-year-old Robin McLaren's flat on nine consecutive nights.

Assaulted and threatened to kill 60-year-old throat cancer sufferer Richard Wansbrough.

Burst into David Coxhead's flat with an acccomplice and threatened him while he was in bed.

The court was told that Mr Coxhead, 45, has suffered a heart attack since the night Hakimi and his henchman kicked down his door and gave him half an hour to get out.

He had to leave behind thousands of pounds worth of belongings.

The judge said that the legal ruling marks the first time in many years that long-lease tenants had been forced from their homes.

In his summing up before awarding more than £80,000 to the five for stress, personal loss, the blighted value of their homes and loss of rental income, he said: "I am satisfied that the allegations made by these claimants are true.

"The picture painted by the claimants is, in my view, one of the most extraordinary acts of violence and intimidation.

"The motive of the defendant clearly was to attempt to gain a substantial benefit, but he continues to pay scant regard to the court."

Lawyers are preparing to serve papers on Hakimi and his sister Farideh, who owns the freehold of the building, in order to have their assets seized to raise the cash for his victims. He will also have to pay at least £60,000 in legal costs. The eventual bill will be more than £170,000.

Hakimi, who was jailed for four months for the harassment and illegal eviction of Mr Wansbrough, is still wearing a tag after being released from prison.