A cowboy builder who defrauded more than 50 homeowners out of almost £650,000 has been jailed for five years.
Lawrence Martin, 36, took advantage of vulnerable customers including one woman who was having work done to help her terminally ill father-in-law live out his final days in peace.
A court heard that Martin, who was described as “fundamentally dishonest”, pressured clients into paying tens of thousands of pounds in deposits to ensure work could begin, before declaring more and more work needed doing as costs soared.
One couple lost more than £110,000 as a result of his fraud, while dozens of victims were left with wrecked homes and lost their life savings in a campaign of fraud that last almost five years.
Martin, an electrician
