Rogue builder who left victims £136k out of pocket jailed - offences in Sheffield and Rotherham reported
Work that was completed was often done to a poor standard
A rogue builder who left victims more than £136,000 out of pocket has been jailed.
Sean Patrick Gartland, aged 54, was sentenced to 32 months behind bars after admitting two counts of fraudulent trading and one of carrying on a business for fraudulent purposes.
The case against Gartland, of Ingoldmells, Lincolnshire, was brought by Derbyshire County Council trading standards officers.
Gartland had been living in Killamarsh, at the time the offences were committed, with a company address in Duckmanton.
Derby Crown Court heard that Gartland was working in the building and home improvement sector trading under his company name of New Looks Building Services Ltd, from June 2019 until it was dissolved in April 2021, and then as a sole trader between April 2021 and January 2023.
He then registered a further company and traded under the name of Sawuk Building Services Ltd between January 2023 and November 2024.
Trading standards started investigating Gartland in January 2022 following complaints from customers.
Referred to in court as classic ‘rogue trading’, Gartland made promises to customers which were never kept, demanding escalating sums of money from them to continue work he had started that in most cases was never finished.
Work that was completed was often done to a poor standard.
He repeatedly gave dishonest excuses when customers complained to him about lack of progress on projects, and he abandoned projects with unfinished work that victims then had to pay others to put right and, in some cases, make safe.
Victim impact statements read out in court included some from Sheffield, Rotherham, Dronfield and Killamarsh.
The court heard how he knocked down a chimney breast and removed a supporting wall leaving no remedial support in place at one couple’s home, as well as leaving a shell of an extension at the back of their house and their back garden full of rubbish and rubble.
Work he carried out for a 91-year-old woman, arranged by her daughter, resulted in a leaking conservatory roof and light fittings filling with water.
At another property Gartland was hired to carry out significant building work on a run-down property.
Poor quality work included removing a boiler and leaving gas pipework in a dangerous state and fitting a staircase so badly that the property’s owner was told it was unsafe to use.
One couple received a false reference provided by Gartland before hiring him for a double extension that was never built, and in another case Gartland dug trenches for foundations to an extension but then left the site and didn’t return.
In his sentencing remarks, His Honour Judge Jonathan Bennett praised the work of trading standards officers involved in the investigation and described Gartland as ‘indeed a rogue trader’.
Judge Bennett said: “The impact upon these victims was profound. Families were left with homes in a state of disrepair.
"Projects for which they had carefully saved were abandoned. Some were obliged to borrow money.
"Some suffered prolonged stress, anxiety and distress.
"Trust was lost. Lives were disrupted.”
Judge Bennett told Gartland that he had taken mitigating circumstances into account in his sentence.
He said: “You have experienced extremely difficult personal circumstances. In 2019 your daughter died in a road traffic collision. That bereavement has plainly had a profound and enduring impact upon you.
"You have also suffered mental health difficulties, including depression and PTSD symptoms.
"You are now in stable employment, with good reference.
"I take full account of those matters and make downward adjustment to reflect them.’’