A cowboy builder who took more than £200,000 for work he didn’t complete – or even start in some cases – has been jailed for more than four years.
James Morgan harassed and intimidated terrified customers into handing over payments during a two-year period, bombarding them with messages or lurking outside their homes.
Victims across Norfolk included Katy Gould, who was chased for money towards landscaping work and a new patio the 39-year-old claimed he was doing while she was 200 miles away with her father, who was dying from an aortic aneurysm.
‘When I returned nearly a week later, having paid more than £5,000, there were no building materials and no work had been started, other than a pile of soil on my drive,’ the single mother, from Long Stratton, told a court in a victim impact statement.
‘In the following month, there were excuses after excuses as to why he couldn’t come and I realised the work would not happen, so I did not pay any more of the agreed £6,500’
Ms Gould, 51, who wanted a pleasant outdoor space for her daughter, who has complex needs, added: ‘He repeatedly called, telling me I had broken our contract, sent hundreds of WhatsApp messages, and then sat outside my home in his van and it was very intimidating.’
‘Myself and my neighbour both had to call the police and I didn’t feel safe in my own home. I didn’t want to leave the house and I kept the blinds shut.’
A pregnant woman ended up living in a static caravan outside what was meant to be her family’s ‘forever dream home’ in Dereham while they waited for an extension which was never completed, despite handing over £180,000.
James Morgan harassed and intimidated terrified customers into handing over payments during a two-year period, bombarding them with messages or lurking outside their homes
In her statement, she told Norwich Crown Court how Morgan had ‘left us with a wreck of a house that was uninhabitable’, adding: ‘Our lives have been ruined by this man.’
The family managed to get £145,000 back but lost the rest as it had been paid in cash.
Other scams Morgan pulled included taking £7,400 from a homeowner in Horsford to supply and fit fascias, gutters and a patio door. The work was never done.
He also took £7,500 for a conservatory installation in Diss which wasn’t started.
The rogue builder was sentenced to 52 months on Monday after admitting ten counts of theft between April 2021 and March 2023 and asked for another two to be taken into consideration.
Recorder Ruth Brander told him: ‘You held yourself out as a competent builder when you knew full well that was not the case.
‘This was not single, one-off offending. It was a pattern of offending that continued over a period of time.’
The recorder added ‘significant planning’ had gone into the crimes, which had caused ‘significant’ suffering to victims.
Victim Katy Gould, 51, handed over more than £5,000 for work that was not carried out and returned home after a week her garden torn up
Miss Gould said a smashed step and broken gate contributed towards the £29,000 bill he was left with by the cowboy builder
The back garden today: Miss Gould is still waiting for compensation to put her home right again
After the hearing, Miss Gould, a locum physiologist, told the Mail how she had been left another £29,000 out of pocket because of problems including damage to her three-bedroom detached house caused by a micro digger Morgan hired that had smashed a step and broken a gate.
Her back lawn had also been left ‘a swamp’ as he had removed the grass while she was away with her father in mid-2022.
The financial hit includes income she lost attending eight court hearings – before Morgan decided to admit his offences.
She told the Mail: ‘He showed his victims references and photos of work he’d done and we trusted him. He talked a good talk.’
‘Callous’ Morgan would ‘continuously bombard’ her with calls and WhatsApp messages for money which ‘put pressure on my family and my mum, who ended up becoming distressed as well’, she said.
Miss Gould added: ‘Myself and the other victims have become very untrusting of people. We’re terrified to get anything else done [to our homes].’
Laura Phillips, prosecuting on behalf of Norfolk Trading Standards, told the court that the defendant, from Harleston, had acted ‘aggressively’ and ‘erratically’.
The theft charges involved ‘work not completed or work completely so poorly as to have not been started at all’.
Morgan was jailed for 52 months at Norwich Crown Court, pictured, after admitting ten theft offences and asking for two others to be taken into account
Margaret Dewsbury, the Norfolk county councillor responsible for communities and partnerships, said: ‘Householders should be able to trust that when they hand over money for work, it will be completed.’
Victims described how Morgan was ‘intimidating’ and they felt ‘harassed’ by him and were ‘unable to sleep at night’, Ms Phillips told the court.
Ed Renvoize, mitigating, admitted his client had grown up in the building trade ‘with not very much skill’.
He was responsible for ‘unpleasant offending’ although it was ‘not sophisticated’.
Sole trader Morgan – whose company, Prestige Home Improvement (East Anglia) Ltd, was dissolved in 2023 – was also disqualified from being allowed to act as a company director for ten years and given a criminal behaviour order for an indefinite period.
Trading Standards have begun confiscation proceedings to try and provide compensation for victims and to cover its investigation costs.
Margaret Dewsbury, the Norfolk county councillor responsible for communities and partnerships, said after the hearing: ‘Householders should be able to trust that when they hand over money for work, it will be completed.
‘Builders should provide written details of the planned work and payment schedule and should not ask for substantial deposits upfront.
‘We would ask residents to check out reviews and recommendations before employing a tradesperson and our Trusted Trader scheme provides peace of mind that a person carrying out work is reputable and reliable.’
