A so-called “cowboy builder” has been imprisoned after swindling a couple out of nearly £100,000 for unfinished home improvements.
The Derbyshire property belonging to Andy Clarke, 46, and his then-pregnant wife, Lisa Clarke, 43 was left exposed to the elements.
The couple handed over £98,000 to Michael Parr for an extension that would add a fifth bedroom and extra bathroom to their Chesterfield home.
Parr, 58, received a sentence of two years and eight months at Nottingham Crown Court on October 3 after pleading guilty to fraud by false representation.
The couple first met Parr in January 2019 to obtain a quote, and after viewing his completed projects and reading testimonials from previous clients, they agreed to pay £106,900 for the work.
They remortgaged their property to fund the project and paid an initial instalment of £33,881 before construction began in April, with an expected completion date of August.
However, after just three months of work, Parr and his team vanished completely, abandoning the property surrounded by scaffolding and open to weather damage.
The project required constructing an additional floor and replacing the roof entirely.
Parr was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court (file pic)
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PAMr Clarke told MailOnline: “As the work went on, nothing looked particularly out of place. It all seemed to be within the scope of what we needed doing.”
However, despite the couple continuing their weekly payments, Parr and his workers began appearing less frequently.
The builder offered a string of excuses, including suppliers going bankrupt and unfavourable weather conditions, before disappearing entirely in July 2019.
By July, Andy had made the penultimate payment, leaving just £8,000 to be paid upon completion
Parr was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court
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PAWhen he threatened legal action, Parr promised roof trusses would arrive by December 17, but nothing materialised and the builder vanished.
The couple believe the ordeal contributed to a miscarriage Lisa suffered while their home lay in ruins.
“The stress throughout was horrendous and it was thought to be one of the triggers of my wife’s miscarriage,” Andy said.
A chartered surveyor later assessed that only around 30 per cent of the work had been completed, with half of that requiring redoing due to poor standards.
To finish the project, the Clarkes took £50,000 equity from their home alongside loans, credit card payments and Andy’s work bonus, ultimately spending an additional £150,000.
The work was not completed until August 2022, some 16 months after Parr began the project.
Police investigations revealed the Clarke family was not Parr’s only victims.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud, with the second relating to a Northamptonshire victim who lost more than £35,000. A proceeds of crime hearing is scheduled for January 16.
“He didn’t acknowledge us when we walked past him in court,” Andy said. “There aren’t words to describe him or the situation.”
The couple attempted to recover their money through the High Court but bailiffs were unable to retrieve anything as Parr never answered the door.
Andy said: “I approached both my bank, First Direct, and two receiving banks and none of them were interested. They refused to acknowledge it was fraud and therefore wouldn’t reverse any transactions. I escalated to their CEO’s and then the financial ombudsman and got nowhere.
“All were saying the same thing, that it was my fault and a valid transaction as far as they were concerned, completely ignoring the fraud position.”
“Justice in terms of the criminal side has been done…But the system is broken – we remain £100,000 out of pocket and that is unlikely to ever return.”
GB News has approached First Direct Bank for a comment.