Cowboy builder, 24, is jailed for fleecing prospects out of £90,000

A cowboy builder named ‘Jesse James’ has been jailed for fleecing customers out of £90,000 for dodgy work.

Rogue workman Leonard Jesse James Richards, 24, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and locked up for 16 months after leaving a trail of devastation in his wake.

Richards conned customers across Cornwall, with images revealing the shocking building and roof works carried out at four different properties.   

One homeowner who hired Richards to convert a holiday home said he had ‘created a scene of devastation’.

Load-bearing walls were removed without adequate support for the roof, plumbing was poor and electrics were left in a dangerous state.

Rogue workman Leonard Jesse James Richards, 24, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and locked up for 16 months after leaving a trail of devastation in his wake

One homeowner who hired Richards to convert a holiday home said he had ‘created a scene of devastation’

Load-bearing walls were removed without adequate support for the roof, plumbing was poor and electrics were left in a dangerous state

The work was originally quoted as costing a maximum £10,000 but ended up costing over £17,000.

On another occasion, the homeowners were looking to have moss cleaned of their roof and gutters cleared. They also wanted the roof of their garden room to be repaired.

Richards pressured the residents to agree to replace the garden room roof, even though a repair was likely all that was needed.

He encouraged quick payment of £3,800 to get new roof trusses made as quickly as possible and created a fake invoice from a fictional timber frame company to provide false reassurance that the trusses were ordered.

Richards then failed to progress the work and rain caused water damage due to the larger holes that were made by Richards when smashing down the original tiles.

When chased about his lack of progress, Richards falsely claimed that the delays were due to his wife’s death, which was disproved when officers spoke to his wife as part of their enquiries.

Sentencing him at Truro Crown Court, Recorder Simon Levene told the defendant, of Whitemoor, St Austell: ‘The victims forked out a lot of money to you, some for work that was not necessary and in addition it cost them to then rectify the works.

‘The total paid out to you by them was approximately £45,000 and the cost to them overall was £90,000. That is £90,000 lost to them.

Another example of a faulty roof in Cornwall that had been worked on by Richards 

‘The effect of what you did to them will be very long lasting. It is immensely distressing and disturbing for the victims, bearing in mind what you put them through.’

Councillor Martyn Alvey, cabinet member with responsibility for Public Protection at Cornwall Council, said: ‘I thank the team for all their hard work in securing justice on behalf of the customers who not only lost thousands of pounds but were put through an awful lot of stress due to this man’s actions.

‘We will not tolerate this kind of behaviour. Where traders fail to carry out work they have been paid to do to the required standard, we will take action.’