Man 'pretended to be a qualified electrician'

A MAN who pretended to be a qualified electrician did a series of jobs for customers which were “shoddy in the extreme and potentially dangerous’, a court has heard.

- JASON EVANS Court and crime reporter

An example of the 'shoddy and potentially dangerous' work.

Wayne Phillips conned his customers out of thousands of pounds for work from a full rewiring of a building being renovated through to the installation of a new shower and new lights, leaving behind him a host of problems which his victims have had to pay to put right.

A judge said Phillips was “the epitome of a rogue trader” who had duped his customers out of money.

Nik Strobl, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that Phillips ran a business called WJP Electrical and presented himself as an electrician despite not being qualified. He said Phillips used the logo of the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting or NICEIC - the UK's leading body for certifying and guaranteeing the quality of electricians' work - on paperwork, even though he was not registered with the organisation.

The court heard detail of three jobs undertaken by 56-year-old Phillips, all of which involved shoddy or potentially dangerous work and involved the defendant only partially completing tasks.