Patrick Hartley, 40, from Doals Gate, Weir, Bacup, Rossendale, has been jailed for three years and nine months after pleading guilty to three regulatory charges of knowingly or recklessly contravening professional diligence and six counts of fraud. He also asked for four further regulatory offences to be taken into consideration.
Preston Crown Court heard that Hartley 'overpromised and underdelivered', leaving damage worth £1m to homes in Greater Manchester and Lancashire. He took customers' money before moving on to the next job, leaving work unfinished and families under strain as they took on more debt to have the work put right.
Vulnerable victims targeted
Council bosses said he targeted homes in Oldham, Tameside, Sale, Bury, Bolton and Stockport, as well as in Bacup and Rawtenstall. One of his victims included a couple in Bacup, who asked Hartley to build an extension for an elderly relative so they could take her in during her end-of-life care. He never carried out the work and she spent her final days in the front room of the property, with no heating or hot water.
After Hartley was jailed on Friday, Lancashire County Council issued a statement, saying he preyed on people when they were vulnerable for financial gain.
'He showed them no mercy'
Councillor Joshua Roberts, the council's cabinet member for rural affairs, environment and communities, 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 – especially for the victims that he cherry-picked in Bacup and Rawtenstall. He showed them no mercy and left them tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket. For the couple in Bacup, he cost them the chance to make a much-loved family member's last few months easier. His behaviour was despicable."
Trail of devastation
The court heard Hartley stung 13 families in a 30-month period from 2020. The council said he left a 'trail of devastation', then declared himself bankrupt.
Amongst his victims was a woman from Rawtenstall, who had previously been scammed by a different builder who ran off with a £12,000 deposit without doing any work. Describing himself as her 'knight in shining armour', Hartley agreed in January 2021 to build her a double-storey extension. She gave him £59,406 but hardly any of the work was completed. He offered to repay her £12,000 a month but after she received just £3,250, he was declared bankrupt. Two years after work started, the property remains uninhabitable. She has borrowed nearly £80,000 to get the job finished.
More victims included a couple in Bacup who were left devastated when their plans to take in an elderly relative and provide her with end-of-life care went wrong when Hartley failed to complete an extension for her. The homeowner's mother was gravely ill when the couple accepted Hartley's quote of £74,000, to build a two-storey extension and driveway. Despite spending £55,800, only around 13 per cent of the work planned was carried out.
'It must be obvious the real harm you have caused'
Sentencing, Judge Andrew Jeffries KC told him: "Any conscientious builder would simply have stopped. You continued to take on fresh work when the truth was you were leaving jobs incomplete and families in a state."
The court heard Hartley was sent written letters and warnings after customers complained about the work. In some cases the builder promised refunds which never came. Judge Jeffries KC said: "It is hardly surprising that the emotional drain on these families is as crippling as the financial one. It must have been obvious to you the real harm that has been caused."
Victim statements spoke of how families suffered depression and struggled to bring up babies and children with special needs in homes without adequate roofing. Some took refuge in other peoples' homes causing families to live apart.
The court heard Hartley received between £600,000 and £700,000 in payments for the work which was never completed. His victims paid a further £300,000 to £400,000 for remedial work to make good his shoddy workmanship.
The prosecution was supported by Trading Standards in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, and Greater Manchester Police. A Proceeds of Crime Hearing will take place in due course.
