Crime Solicitors

Birmingham City Council has prosecuted a builder, after the Trading Standards team was contacted by a neighbour concerned about the amount of building works being carried out on a house in Lyttleton Road, Edgbaston between 16 January 2016 and 6 February 2016.

John Casey, 59, of City Road in Edgbaston took more than £12,000 in payments for unfinished and unnecessary construction work the property.

At Birmingham Magistrates’ Court, Casey pleaded guilty to three offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

He was fined £900 and also ordered to pay £1,818 in costs and £14,388 in compensation.

The court heard the homeowner believed their house had been damaged during bad weather and was approached by Casey, who said he was doing building work in the area and had noted there was a problem with the property’s guttering.

After discussions, a series of works was agreed, including guttering around the property, tiles to be replaced on the laundry room and one of the top floor windows to be replaced. A general price of £8,000 to £10,000 was agreed.

However, over a two-and-a-half week period, the homeowner wrote three cheques totalling £12,000.

A survey of the works carried out revealed the guttering and window repair to be defective, while the installation of eaves trays in the property was defective, incomplete and unnecessary. The tiling works on the laundry room were not carried out.

Casey had also claimed there was damp in three of the first-floor bedrooms, requiring works to be done to the high-level roof and the installation of eaves trays – but the survey found no evidence that the covering was defective, nor of damp ingress.

Chair of the city council’s Licensing and Public Protection Committee, Councillor Barbara Dring, said:

“Having any kind of building or maintenance work done to your home can be stressful and costly – which is why it’s vital that we bring cases like this to the public’s attention, to ensure they avoid becoming victims of cowboy builders like this.”

Duncan Lewis Criminal Lawyers

Duncan Lewis Criminal Lawyers can advise at any stage of a public protection offence, including charges involving selling counterfeit goods, selling illicit alcohol or tobacco products, weights and measures issues, mislabelling offences, food hygiene breaches, selling restricted items to minors, breaches of health and safety regulations – and selling or offering for sale produce which fails to meet minimum quality standards.

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