Conman builder avoids jail sentence after £100k scam

A crooked builder who left a devastated couple with a “half-demolished” house and conned them out of more than £100,000 has escaped a jail sentence.

- by Alexander Lawrie

Sean Sutherland, 32, was paid the huge six figure by homeowners Chris and Amanda Harvey after being employed to carry out renovation work on their family home in Haddington, East Lothian.

But after tearing down half the five-bedroom property, the owner of SWS Timber Frame and Construction Ltd abandoned the job.

The couple and their two children had to temporarily move out after their house was left unliveable and were forced to employ a second firm to fix the mess left by Sutherland.