- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source
A cowboy builder who fleeced homeowners out of £1million after unfinished work left water pouring through their cracked ceilings has been jailed.
asserted
work → see → ceilings
Patrick Damien Hartley, 52, was described as 'one of the most prolific and heartless' fraudsters that Lancashire County Council had ever come across.
asserted
Council → describe → that
He fleeced a total of 13 households across the north-west of England out of more than £700,000, with many having to pay thousands more to finish incomplete work.
asserted
many → fleece → work
One shocking clip shared by a homeowner shows droplets of rain pounding onto her kitchen table, while in others extensions are barely complete with rubbish and debris left strewn across the floor.
asserted
extensions → share → floor
Pictures taken by victims meanwhile showed houses left on stilts as well as scaffolding still in tact next to knocked-down or windowless walls.
asserted
Pictures → take → walls
The local council first prosecuted Hartley after being contacted by homeowners in September 2022.
asserted
council → prosecute → September
An investigation found he had repeatedly failed to carry out work costing thousands and, earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to fraud and consumer protection offences between 2020 and 2023.
asserted
he → find → 2020
Hartley was handed three years and nine months in jail at Preston Crown Court, though victims complained that the sentence was lenient.
asserted
sentence → hand → Court
Patrick Damien Hartley, 52, left homeowners thousands of pounds out of pocket after refusing to finish construction works
Video footage showed how the cowboy builder left cracks in his victims' ceilings
While in other cases he left extensions totally unfinished.
asserted
he → leave → extensions
Some homeowners were forced to spend as much as £89,000 rectifying Hartley's botched jobs
One, 48-year-old Phillippa Edgar, handed Hartley almost £100,000 over eight months to build her a single-storey rear and a double-storey side garage extension in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
The mum-of-two initially agreed a deal with Hartley of around £105,000, with construction expected to last 10 weeks.
asserted
construction → force → 105,000
The renovation was however never completed, leaving Ms Edgar with no choice but to spend as much as £89,000 on remedial works, including to make the building safe and in line with regulations.
asserted
building → complete → regulations
She fumed: 'This was supposed to be our dream home - but it became far from it.
asserted
it → fume → it
The situation was extremely stressful and extremely upsetting, it strained everything from my children's school lives to my marriage.
asserted
it → strain → marriage
'Hartley is a conman who knew what he was doing - lie after lie was told about why work wasn't complete.
asserted
work → know → lie
'He then just left the extensions as two brick shells - and stole our hard-earned money.
asserted
He → leave → money
'He left our roof open to the rain, which flooded into our house to the point we set up a pump to suck as much out as possible.
asserted
we → leave → much
Hartley is a horrid man who deserves to rot in prison.'
asserted
who → deserve → prison
Another victim was Joanne Dagostina, 42, who in November 2021 was provided a quote of £34,800 for an extension and fitted kitchen at her semi-detached three-bed home in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
asserted
who → provide → Oldham
Work started in January 2022 but further jobs were later agreed, including the installation of a damp-proof course to the existing property and a new bathroom.
asserted
jobs → start → property
But by August 2022 Ms Dagostina decided to sack Hartley having already paid him £64,216.
asserted
Dagostina → decide → 64,216
A light fitting at one of the homes which Hartley was hired to work on is pictured
Poorly attached tarpaulin on the roof of a home in Lancashire which the cowboy builder worked on is pictured
asserted
builder → hire → which
Hartley left Phillippa Edgar's house in a state of ruin after he was handed £100,000 to build a garage extension
Tarpaulin is seen over Ms Edgar's home, leaving the roof open to rain and the home's interior susceptible to flooding
It was only after a structural engineer came to the house that she found out he hadn't installed any steel beams.
asserted
he → leave → beams
It meant the woman's roof could collapse 'at any moment'.
uncertain
roof → mean → moment
Ms Dagostina said: 'The blatant lack of care and disrespect to put my family in danger is unforgivable.
asserted
lack → say → danger
'The engineer told me the extension ceiling was failing by 200 per cent and to prop it as soon as possible.
asserted
ceiling → tell → it
He said it would collapse if we didn't and if it did it would take the next-door neighbours with it - I was furious.
'
asserted
I → say → it
I am disappointed with his sentencing as to me it was premeditated and he knew how to take advantage.
asserted
he → premeditate → advantage
Pelin Akin, 49, and Wellington Tsang, 55, also fell victim to Hartley, losing over £105,000 in the process.
They approached him for a loft conversion with a dormer window as well as a driveway at their three-bed house in Sale, Greater Manchester.
asserted
They → fall → Sale
Hartley quoted £48,000 with the work starting in April 2021, but by June the Senior Travel Consultant said construction had 'slowed down' before he left the site in early 2022.
asserted
he → quote → 2022
The cowboy said the renovations would take eight weeks to complete.
asserted
renovations → say → weeks
Including other agreed work, Ms Akin paid him £47,500 but had 'no roof and an empty attic to show for it'.
asserted
Akin → include → it
The family has since had the building work completed by a reputable trader at a cost of £59,000.
asserted
work → have → 59,000
Approximately £8,000 of that expense was used to correct Hartley's work and bring it into compliance with building control requirements.
asserted
8,000 → use → requirements
She said: 'The excuses he gave for the work not being completed were ridiculous - they included his workers being drunk and his and the van needing its MoT.
'
asserted
workers → say → MoT.
Hartley started with being very accommodating.
asserted
Hartley → start → ?
'But when we started challenging him for why he wasn't on the site his messages became more threatening.
asserted
messages → start → site
'My work suffered, I was signed off with stress.
asserted
I → suffer → stress
I added lots of cameras and security to our home just in case he or his representatives decided to visit us.
asserted
he → add → us
Joanna Dagostina's kitchen in Oldham, Greater Manchester, is seen in a state of disrepair
Ms
asserted
kitchen → see → disrepair
Dagostina eventually decided to sack Hartley having already paid him £64,216
Dirt and rubbish is left strewn across the ground in Pelin Akin and Wellington Tsang's property
'I am starting to relax knowing that he is behind bars.'
asserted
he → decide → bars
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
