Jailed: Rip-off Telford builder who conned families out of £70,000 used cash to swan off on Dubai holiday
A rip-off builder who conned families out of more than £70,000 and used cash to swan off on a luxury holiday to Dubai has been jailed.
Rogue trader Steven Andrew Bailey, who operated under the business name SBS Telford Ltd among others, took huge sums of cash from victims before carrying out shoddy, half-finished work, leaving victims high and dry when they sacked him from jobs.
Shrewsbury Crown Court, sitting at Telford Magistrates Court, was told how he swindled four families out of money.
The 44-year-old left pipes exposed, half-finished an extension which meant a home was cold during the winter, didn’t pay contractors and took clients' cash to pay for a holiday and to spend on his family.
Bailey has previous for dodgy dealings as a builder, having already been taken to court over his poor work.
In this latest fraud he conned four Telford families out of several thousands of pounds, including a couple in their 70s out of their £51,000 life savings.
Victims Graham Blower and his partner Janet Benion hired Bailey to build an extension which had to be pulled down due to how badly it was built.
Mrs Benion’s son Andrew said they are both registered disabled, and were also having a wet room built because their bathroom was too small.
Bailey was also supposed to build an area to store their mobility buggies, which never came to fruition.
Andrew said they have spent in the region of £25,000 extra to try and rectify the problems as best they can, meaning a small extension has cost in the region of £78,000.
The court was told that Mr Blower had to sell his “prized” Range Rover to pay for some of the work, and that Mrs Benion now “rarely leaves the house”.
One of the other victims was left with a cold house during winter because of failings in Bailey’s work, causing problems for his daughter who suffered from immune deficiency after a recent surgery.
Altogether, he took £51,960 from Mr Blower and Mrs Benion, £10,000 from another family, £5,390 from a third and £3,000 from a fourth.
Bailey, of Shoveller Drive, Apley, Telford, gave partial refunds for some work, but only on the condition that customers did not complain.
He pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud.
Rosemary Proctor, mitigating, asked Recorder Adrian Jack to consider that crimes of a similar nature sometimes end up with victims who are left “destitute and utterly humiliated”, and that this “is not one of those cases”.
The court was also told that the father of four is the “sole breadwinner” for his family, pays his wife a wage and funds his son’s university accommodation.
Recorder Jack told Bailey: “Mr Blower had to sell his car to have sufficient money. The impact on Mrs Benion has been severe.”
He jailed Bailey for five-and-a-half years and ordered for a proceeds of crime hearing in September to see if any of his ill-gotten gains can be recouped.
The judge also banned Bailey from being a company director for 11 years.
Mr Blower told the Shropshire Star: “I can only say that I am glad it is all over. What Bailey has done to me and my partner is beyond belief.
“I didn’t think I would see justice done. Obviously a big thank you to the trading standards team for all their hard work.
“Steven Bailey has taken our life savings, our pension and our ability to live.”