- Do you have a cowboy builder story? Email matt.strudwick@mailonline.co.uk
A cowboy builder who left a massive hole in a woman’s house after charging her £17,000 for work when his company was about to go bust has avoided being sent to jail.
Gary Roberts, 60, signed a contract promising to complete an extension to the rear of the female’s property, Chester Magistrates’ Court heard.
Within one week of the contract being signed in May 2021, the woman had paid Roberts a £10,000 deposit.
She made a further payment of £7,000 a month later, even though he knew his company GR Developments 1 Ltd was in financial trouble.
The builder, of Old Spot Way, Winsford, in Cheshire, never finished the project walking off the site and leaving a gaping hole in the back of her house.
He has since been ordered to pay his victim more than £10,000 in compensation and was handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: ‘Gary Roberts 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.
‘Protecting the public from rogue traders such as Roberts is something the Insolvency Service takes extremely seriously.’
Do you have a cowboy builder story? Email matt.strudwick@mailonline.co.uk
Cowboy builder Gary Roberts, 60, left a massive hole in a woman’s house after charging her £17,000 for work when his company was about to go bust
Chester Magistrates’ Court heard the shady builder told the victim it would cost around £17,000 for new windows and a rear extension.
But just weeks after signing the contract Roberts received advice from professionals about placing GR Developments 1 Ltd into liquidation which led him to walk off the site.
CI Snasdell said: ‘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 debris and rubble everywhere.’
During that time he paid himself £11,513 between May and July 2021 knowing that his company was insolvent.
It was eventually dissolved in January 2023.
Roberts was sentenced for fraudulently removing property in anticipation of the winding-up of a company, contrary to section 206 of the Insolvency Act 1986 on Monday 31 March.
The builder, of Old Spot Way, Winsford, in Cheshire, never finished the project walking off the site and leaving a gaping hole in the back of her house
Roberts was subsequently 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 complete 20 days of community rehabilitation activity, pay £1,000 in costs, and a £154 surcharge.
The woman has since completed her extension in April 2022 after employing other tradesmen.
CI Snasdell said: ‘Fraudulent behaviour which causes clear financial harm to innocent people will be thoroughly investigated by the agency.’
Do you have a cowboy builder story? Email matt.strudwick@mailonline.co.uk
