A builder has been jailed for four months, suspended for three years, for stealing money from his customers.

James Gordon from Killyleagh was also fined £250 for failing to complete work to a professional standard and ordered to pay a total of £2,350 in compensation, at Lisburn Magistrates Court.

He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to charges under the Fraud Act 2006 and the Consumer protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

The case was the result of an investigation by the Trading Standards Service (TSS) into a complaint from a couple who had engaged with Mr Gordon to build a two-storey extension to their property in Lower Ballinderry, Co Antrim. Mr Gordon failed to carry out the building work to a professional standard. He agreed a price to build the extension as per the plans within 12 weeks. However, Mr Gordon left the job substantially unfinished after 17 months, having received the bulk of the agreed price. An independent survey commissioned by the TSS estimated that Mr Gordon had left over half of the work not complete.

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Also, during that time Mr Gordon received money for materials which were never produced. For example, he received £850 to buy roof tiles but the tiles were never supplied and the roof was left unprotected over the winter.

The couple were forced to employ someone else to complete the work.

(CD/JP)