Rogue builder whose 'disastrous work left lives ruined' is jailed

A ROGUE builder left his customers hundreds and thousands of pounds out of pocket after carrying out shoddy work which had to be ripped out and rebuilt from scratch.

- PHILIP DEWEY

A judge described the work as “disastrous” and one customer said the ordeal had “ruined her life”.

Christopher Webber, 48, defrauded two sets of victims in relation to three properties in Rhondda Cynon Taf between 2021 and 2022, after he left houses in states of disrepair.

He took thousands of pounds from his customers but failed to turn up on site, did not apply for building regulations, and did not purchase material he had been paid for.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard the first victim was known to Webber, and considered him a friend.

He asked the defendant to carry out substantial work at his home in Ramsons Way.

The defendant told the victim he had completed building regulation applications, and had engaged architects and structural engineers, but he had not done any of this.

A couple of months into the build, it was apparent there were problems, with Webber not being present when a kitchen was delivered. Building schedules were not met and he told the customer he had not anticipated the price of the job and had under-quoted him, while complaining he was out of pocket.

When challenged about the work, Webber promised to carry out repairs but these promises were not fulfilled and he appeared to be avoiding the victim. A chartered surveyor was later employed to inspect the work, but they concluded it was worth nothing and the victim was left out of pocket by £103,029.