Cowboy builder who took £21k from elderly man sentenced
Danny Quinn received over £21850 for an illegitimate 'building project'
A cowboy builder has been sentenced after he took over £21,850 from an elderly man in Congleton for a 'building project'.
39-year-old Danny Quinn pleaded guilty to two counts of theft.
The court heard how Quinn had offered to do gardening work for a 76-year-old man, but this soon escalated into building work.
Some of the work was never completed despite the victim paying £12,000 and an additional £1,000 in 'VAT'.
Quinn also persuaded the victim to invest money into a 'building project' he was involved with.
He received a total of £21,850 from the victim, who never received details as to what the project was.
The victim later told officers he felt pressured into sending the money.
Quinn was arrested after the victim’s bank contacted Cheshire Police to flag concerns about his transactions.
He was handed an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years and was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
Detective Constable Sarah Newton, who led the investigation into Quinn’s offending, said: “Danny Quinn exploited a vulnerable person under the guise that he would be completing building and maintenance work at his home.
“Despite claiming that he repaired a garden wall, power-washed a driveway, lifted and re-laid part of it, regularly mowed lawns and trimmed hedges, he could not say when he did what or how much he charged for each service. Not only this, but some of the work he did do, remained incomplete.
“Quinn also claimed not to have any recollection of telling the victim he would be investing his money into a ‘building project’ and claims the victim offered to lend him money because he was facing financial difficulties.
“Our investigation proved his claims otherwise, with mobile messages referring to the project that, supposedly, required the victims’ money.
“Thankfully, his offending has been brought to a conclusion, with Quinn pleading guilty to the charges facing him and being ordered to complete over 200 hours of work, for which he will not be paid."