'Rogue builder left me with boarded-up windows'

A man who lost thousands of pounds to a rogue builder has spoken about the "incredibly stressful" experience.

The victim paid a deposit to Stuart-Paul Robins to fit windows and a door to his home, but no work was carried out and the empty frames had to be boarded up.

Robins, 40, has been jailed for 20 months after pleading guilty to 10 charges of fraud by false representation.

Lincoln Crown Court heard that Robins, of Charles Road, Stamford, took £52,567 in deposits from 10 customers after promising to carry out work which he then failed to complete.

The victim said he was left out of pocket and the work has still not been completed.

He said: "It was always promised – 'Oh, yeah, yeah, you know... It's just, oh, the manufacturers are delaying... They still haven't given me a delivery date'.

"It just dragged on and on and on."

Robins was prosecuted by Lincolnshire Trading Standards.

At his sentencing hearing on 16 January, statements from his victims revealed that one had considered suicide while another had lost a deposit that had taken years to save up.

Judge Simon Hirst said Robins had not worked to pay back his customers, many of whom had attended court.

"You not only failed to carry out the work but you did nothing to order the products at all," he said.

"You had actually no intention at all but to walk away with their money."

The judge said he had seen a number of references saying what a "splendid man" Robins was.

But he added: "Those victims of your fraudulent behaviour would disagree entirely."

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