Rogue trader jailed for 5 years after conning victims out of £130,000 with 'litany of excuses'

Along with being prosecuted by trading standards, the Darlington man was taken to court by a Cumbria woman from whom he stole £10,000 after never ordering a kitchen for her.

Bell admitted to five counts of fraud and one count of theft.

The man was paid deposits for materials for a variety of work between 2017 and 2023.

Some of the work included paving driveways, converting lofts and extending homes, prosecutor John Crawford said.

He failed to turn up to jobs for some, although for others, he would do some work before failing to return.

Mr Crawford said the eldest of his victims included people in their 90s, and many spent months attempting to get him to return or refund their purchases.

The court heard that his excuses included having testicular cancer, his sister having cancer, that he was ill or had Covid, had a broken leg, his van had broken down or that it caught fire on the way to a job and that he was stuck on other jobs.

Bell told one woman he was unable to come to the job as his van failed its MOT.

She found he was lying after doing a check on the DVLA website.

Another excuse included saying he could not work in an attic as there were protected bats living there.

Among Bell's victims was a woman undergoing chemotherapy.

She required altering her parents' home so she was able to live with them.

However, after taking £4,700 from them, Bell failed to turn up for months before eventually cancelling the job, Mr Crawford told the court.

One couple paid Bell almost £16,000 to install a downstairs bedroom and toilet, and after starting the work, he just stopped attending.

The couple then paid an expert to assess Bell's work, which included him leaving a sewage pipe exposed.

Another woman paid Bell about £10,000 to repair her roof, but his work was so poor she ended up having to pay another worker £30,000 to fix his work.

Many of Bell's victims told the court of the emotional and financial impact of his fraud.

Some said they felt "foolish", "violated", "helpless" and "ashamed".

The man was eventually prosecuted for fraud by Northumberland County Council.

In mitigating the offences, the court heard Bell was overwhelmed by his situation and his work started to suffer due to a relationship breakdown.

The court also heard that a leg injury in a mountain bike accident had also impacted him.

Judge Edward Bindloss said Bell had continued to take deposits and agreed to work even after he knew he was being pursued by investigators.

The judge noted he had previous fraud convictions and that he gave a "litany of excuses" and showed a "high degree (of) evasion, dishonesty and false representations".

Judge Bindloss acknowledged that while he wanted to order Bell to pay compensation to his victims, the builder had no money or assets.

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