Fine handed down to Belfast builder for leaving extension unfinished after being paid £20,000

Having paid the accused a total of £20,000, the householder eventually had to pay another builder £71,500 to complete the job

A Belfast builder, who agreed to build a two-storey extension to a property in the city but left the job substantially unfinished after being paid £20,000, has been given a three-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

In a case brought by the Trading Standards Service, Martin Spence, 57, of Pretoria Street, Belfast pleaded guilty to one charge under the Fraud Act 2006 and one charge under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

On Monday, he was fined £500 at Newtownards Magistrates’ Court and also ordered to pay £5,000 compensation to the victim.

Spence visited the property in May 2022 and provided a quote for the job of £53,000 plus VAT. That quote was accepted and Spence then provided a contract, which included a schedule of stage payments. On receipt of the stage one payment (deposit) of £10,000, work on the extension commenced on June 21, 2022.

The second stage payment of £10,000 was due once the foundations were laid, the brickwork was up to the first floor and the pipe work for the bathroom was in. However, on October 19, 2022 Spence advised the householder in a text message that that second payment of £10,000 was due when not all of the scheduled work was complete, e.g. the brickwork to the first floor was not done.

Once the second stage payment was made there was little further work done. From that point on Spence made numerous promises in text messages to progress the work, up untilJanuary 15, 2023 when he messaged the householder to unilaterally terminate the contract.

Having paid Spence £20,000, the householder eventually had to pay another builder £71,500 to complete the job. There were also additional costs for materials which should have been covered by the second stage payment. The whole episode had a detrimental effect on the family’s health and finances.

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