A rogue builder who left victims across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire more than £136,000 out of pocket in total has been jailed for 32 months after admitting three offences relating to fraud.
Sean Patrick Gartland, 54, of Ingoldmells, Lincolnshire, was sentenced at Derby Crown Court on Thursday (27 August) after admitting two counts of fraudulent trading and one count of carrying on a business for fraudulent purposes at an earlier hearing in July.
The successful case against Gartland was brought by our trading standards team following a long and complex investigation.
Gartland had been living in Killamarsh, Derbyshire, at the time the offences were committed, with a company address in Duckmanton.
The 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 the 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.
Our Cabinet Member for Communities and Safety, Councillor Dan Price, said:
“Protecting residents from rogue traders is one of our top priorities and we welcome the sentence handed down to Gartland by the court. We hope it sends out a strong and clear message to others that this type of offending will not be tolerated.
“Our trading standards officers have worked tirelessly to bring Gartland to justice for his crimes, which have left his victims thousands of pounds out of pocket, caused huge emotional distress and, in some cases, left them living in unsafe homes.”
At the previous hearing in July, Gartland admitted the following three offences:
– Fraudulent trading, contrary to s.993 of the Companies Act 2006, concerning his carrying on of New Looks Building Services Ltd between 6 June 2019 and 13 April 2021;
– Carrying on a business for a fraudulent purpose as a sole trader, contrary to s.9 of the Fraud Act 2006, between 14 April 2021 and 28 January 2023;
– Fraudulent trading, contrary to s.993 of the Companies Act 2006, concerning his carrying on of Sawuk Building Services Ltd between 29 January 2023 and 12 November 2024.
Victim personal statements read out in court at Thursday’s sentencing hearing came from victims from Dronfield (Derbys), Killamarsh (Derbys), Bilsthorpe (Notts), Rotherham (South Yorks) and Sheffield (South Yorks).
The evidence against Gartland included knocking down a chimney breast and removing 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 for 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 a good reference. I take full account of those matters and make a downward adjustment to reflect them.”
As well as the jail sentence, Judge Bennett granted a Criminal Behaviour Order for seven years, ordering Gartland ‘not to hold himself out as a builder to any consumer (i.e. non-business customer) or undertake any building work at the residential address of any consumer (non-business customer), save in the capacity of an employee of a business owned by a third party, the director of which must have knowledge of his convictions’. In addition, Gartland was disqualified from acting as a company director for seven years.
