A Failsworth woman has revealed how a cowboy builder left her home at risk of collapse as she was preparing for her wedding. Joanne Dagostina and her now husband, Anthony, 42, hired rogue builder Patrick Hartley to work on their home.
Hartley was tasked with building an extension and fitting a new kitchen, which cost £64,216 when it was complete. But Joanne and Anthony were left stunned when a structural engineer told them their house was not safe and could collapse at any moment. Their new kitchen was torn apart to fit in steel beams.
Builder jailed after million-pound trail of devastation
Hartley, 51, was jailed for three years and nine months last month after racking up a million pounds in costs and losses. According to Joanne, 42, the sentence is 'way too light'.
“He put me and my family at risk,” she said. “I was told next door’s house could have come down also. The fact that me and my children are still alive is nothing short of chance.
“He lied to us all the way through the build, coming up with more and more outlandish excuses why he wasn’t working, and all the time he kept taking our money.
“It took seven months to finish the job and then it broke my heart to see it all ripped up again because it wasn’t safe. It was like watching the whole project on rewind. We were planning our wedding throughout and it caused so much stress and upset that we almost didn’t get married.”
Work began in February 2022
Joanne, a Failsworth native, discovered Hartley on Facebook over Christmas 2021. She noted that he 'had great reviews' and invited her and Anthony over to his house to meet his family. Described as seemingly being 'very genuine and trustworthy', Hartley quoted £34k for a new kitchen and extension and began work in February 2022. The project had a completion time of around 12 weeks.
Joanne recalled: “He found more and more problems with the house, he said our electrics needed updating, we needed new dampproof then he said the shower and taps were broken and we needed a new bathroom.
“Looking back, I wonder whether we really needed any of this at all. My father died during that time, and I think he took advantage.
“We were paying him monthly and, in the meantime, he was leaving us in a mess. The bathroom was ripped out for eight weeks and there was a hole on the landing at one point. We had children, we had nowhere to shower or bath. I was taking my daughters to my mum's every day so they could wash.
“Hartley kept not turning up. He sent photos of his family members saying they were ill. He told us the electrician had been reunited with a long-lost daughter so had taken the week off. I think he just said whatever popped into his head and he didn’t care that we were living in chaos.”
She added: “It was very stressful; it caused a lot of rows and extra expense. We were planning our wedding, but it was a horrible time for us. The lead up to our big day was ruined and we almost didn't get married. What should have been a happy time was completely overshadowed and spoiled.”
Hartley was paid £70k for his work, £5k of which he refunded when he admitted he could not find anyone to fit their new doors. By August, the project was finally finished.
Home declared a '200% failure risk'
“Nobody would work with him because he didn’t pay his bills,” Joanne said. “We were not happy with it but just so relieved it was over. We contacted Building Control to sign the work off and they said they hadn’t seen photos of the steel beams in the extension.
“I said there were no steel beams, and they sent an engineer who informed us our home was a 200% failure risk and it was not safe downstairs. Our neighbours were also at risk.
“We had to get builders in urgently, and we had to live upstairs whilst the whole thing was ripped out, the flooring, the kitchen units, the wiring, the new walls, so that beams could be fitted. I cried so much. It was awful.”
Hartley refused to pay for any of the extra work, which cost £14k. Making her way to his home, Joanne claims that she was 'fobbed off' by Hartley. After contacting the police and trading standards, Joanne joined a WhatsApp group with other families who had also been 'ripped off' to start a prosecution.
Hartley initially pleaded not guilty to 26 offences under the Fraud Act 2006 and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. In May 2025, he pleaded guilty to six Fraud Act offences and three offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
He was jailed at Preston Crown Court last month and also given a seven-year criminal behaviour order preventing him from owning a business which takes part in private building work.
Fraudster targeted 13 households
The court was told that Hartley, from Weir in Bacup, targeted 13 households across the North West of England. He took in almost £700,000 from customers and left a trail of devastation calculated to be about £1m, before declaring himself bankrupt.
Hartley repeatedly failed to carry out work that he had charged the consumers tens of thousands for, or carried out substandard work that the homeowners had to shell out thousands to fix.
Hartley's sentencing came as the Government announced new measures aimed at tackling cowboy builders. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said too many homeowners were being left out of pocket after paying large deposits for work that was never completed.
Councillor Joshua Roberts of Lancashire County Council said: “Patrick Hartley is one of the most prolific, heartless fraudsters that we have come across and could well be the most serious example of rogue trading that Lancashire County Council's Trading Standards has ever prosecuted.
“He deliberately preyed on consumers at some of their most vulnerable moments….He showed them no mercy and left them tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket….His behaviour was despicable.”
