A builder who left a gaping hole in a woman’s house where her kitchen once stood has been handed a suspended jail sentence.
Gary Roberts, from Cheshire, persuaded his victim to pay over £17,000 for new windows and a rear extension in 2021, which he never completed. The 60-year-old then paid himself more than £11,000 in funds from his GR Developments 1 Ltd company at the time it was entering liquidation.
Roberts, of Old Spot Way, Winsford, pleaded guilty to fraudulently removing property in anticipation of the winding-up of a company, contrary to section 206 of the Insolvency Act 1986. He was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, at Chester Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
He was also ordered to complete 20 days of community rehabilitation activity, pay £1,000 in costs, and a £154 surcharge.
David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said that Roberts had “left his victim in a state of utter desperation after wrecking her home.”
“He never should have even signed a contract with her, as he knew his company was in financial trouble.”
Mr Snasdell noted that the back of the victim’s house was “completely exposed to the elements, having been knocked down from the kitchen.”
Roberts and his company also “left a huge mess” in her garden, with pictures showing debris and rubble everywhere.
“Protecting the public from rogue traders such as Roberts is something the Insolvency Service takes extremely seriously. Fraudulent behaviour which causes clear financial harm to innocent people will be thoroughly investigated by the agency.”
Roberts first signed a contract with his customer at the start of May 2021, promising to complete an extension to the rear of her property. Within a week, she had paid the rogue trader a £10,000 deposit, before making a further payment of £7,000 at the end of June that year.
Weeks after signing the contract, Roberts received advice from professionals about placing his company into liquidation. He would pay himself £11,513 in company money between May and July 2021, when he knew the company was insolvent.
The Cheshire tradesman never finished the project and the victim had to employ other tradesmen to finish the extension in April 2022, losing out on the £17,000 she had initially handed over to Roberts.
GR Developments 1 Ltd was eventually dissolved n January 2023.
Roberts has been banned as a company director for 10 years for his misconduct at GR Developments 1 Ltd, with the disqualification in place until February 2034. He was also ordered to pay his victim more than £10,000 in compensation.
