A rogue builder who left his victim with a roof full of holes and £4,000 out of pocket has escaped jail.
Joseph Gerrard, 48, took £3,500 from Patsy Stevens for a new roof at her home in Little Hulton, Greater Manchester, but abandoned the job before it was completed.
Gerrard claimed he had suffered a brain haemorrhage on August 28 last year which put him in a coma although he presented no medical documents to the court to verify this.
He claimed this rendered him unable to work at all although this didn’t prevent him placing an ad for his services in a local newspaper in March of this year, the court heard.
Joseph Gerrard, 48, left a customer with a gaping hole in her roof after charging her £3,500 for his work, and claimed that he had been unable to work after a brain haemorrhage
She had to take out a loan to pay another builder almost £4,000 to fix mess he had left behind.
Patsy, an IT worker who had just been given the all clear from cancer, had saved up for five years for the new roof and Velux windows (who make skylights), and found what she thought was a reputable builder on the internet.
Gerrard, who claimed to have been trading for 25 years although he had no qualifications, quoted £3,820 and told the customer his work would be ‘guaranteed’.
Out of pocket: Patsy Stevens had been saving up for five years to get the work done on her home, and had recently been given the all clear for cancer
Patsy, who lives in Little Hulton, Greater Manchester, was forced to employ another builder for the repairs, costing her £4,000 more
Patsy handed over a £1,000 cash deposit – he refused to take a cheque – and then gave him another £1,000 when he turned up with two other workers to begin the job on July 12 last year, a court heard.
But Patsy later found the gutters were blocked with rubble while roof tiles were missing and old tiles had been used, prosecutor Michael Blakey told Manchester Crown Court.
“The scaffolding had disappeared which suggested the job had been completed,” said Mr Blakey.
Patsy managed to call Gerrard but he demanded a further £2,000 and sent his workmen round again on July 21 last year, the day before she was due to go on holiday.
Gerrard left the roof with the tiles removed and left exposed. He admitted one charge of unfair commercial practice and who has previous-drink-related convictions
She didn’t have that much so she handed over £1,500 and was assured the work would be completed by the time she returned from her break.
When she came back a week later, she saw the roof still had not been finished, with slates loosely stacked around the roof and gaps between the batons.
She found a huge wet patch in her bedroom and she could see water ‘pouring in’ down the walls.
The court heard she arranged buckets to catch the water and used a plastic sheeting to cover holes in the roof.
Patsy tried to contact the builder at the address he had given but the court heard ‘it didn’t exist’.
She called in trading standards, whose expert concluded Gerrard had left the roof in an unsafe condition, and eventually paid another builder £3,972 to fix the roof properly.
Patsy was forced to take out another loan to cover the costs of repairing the roof through another builder
Gerrard was given a two-year community order which includes 40 days of ‘rehabilitation activity’ , has pay £3,500 compensation to his victim, and must carry out 150 hours of unpaid work
He was due to be sentenced last month but failed to turn up.
Martin Pizzey, defending, said: “He regrets what has taken place. He took the job with the intention of fullfilling it but due to his deteriorating health he was unable to do so.”
Gerrard, of St Ledger Court, Accrington, who admitted one charge of unfair commercial practice and who has previous-drink-related convictions, was handed a two-year community order which includes 40 days of ‘rehabilitation activity’.
He must also carry out 150 hours unpaid work and pay £3,500 compensation to his victim.
Judge Hilary Manley told the defendant: “This case is so serious it crosses the custody threshold, but I’m going to draw back from that because you have no previous convictions for similar behaviour or fraudulent activity.”