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A distraught couple found themselves out of pocket by over £30,000 after a dishonest builder abandoned their home extension unfinished, leaving water flooding into their property. Shelley Sawkins, 75, initially became suspicious when she contacted the builder, Christian Williams, and discovered he was spending the money she had given him while on holiday in Lanzarote. Williams, 54, is currently serving a two-year prison sentence following admissions of theft and three counts of fraud by false representation across four families.
During a recent Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Mold Crown Court, it was revealed that Williams had profited £163,051.70 from his criminal activities, yet he possessed assets valued at just £1 to repay his victims. Meanwhile, on social media, Williams flaunted images of vacations and outings, even as the victims he defrauded were left to rectify the chaos he created. Shelley and her husband Barry, 63, who reside in Buckley, Flintshire, spent £50,000 repairing the botched extension—nearly £30,000 above the original £21,000 estimate—with £30,000 paid to Williams and the remainder to other builders hired to fix his substandard work. Despite these expenses, the couple still face significant issues such as uneven floors and are now desperate to leave their once cherished home for sheltered accommodation.
Shelley shared the harrowing experience: “We paid the first installment. The work started, and then just stopped. Then we saw he was in Lanzarote on holiday with our money. He would disappear for weeks and then come back with excuse after excuse.” The extension, initially intended to create a larger kitchen space and improve their lifestyle, brought nothing but distress. Problems became evident early on when walls visibly wobbled, and at one point, after roof work, rainwater poured into their house. Shelley, who cared for her husband who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, recalled the struggle: “I was up in the middle of the night collecting water in buckets while trying to look after my husband. I didn’t have enough buckets. I was in tears. I was constantly in tears. It was a nightmare.”
In a separate case, Dave and Claire Eddon, parents of three young children in Higher Kinnerton, Flintshire, also suffered under Williams’s unreliable work. They hired him for a two-storey extension that was meant to cost £100,000 and take four months. Dave provided over £56,000 upfront, but after a promising start, progress ground to a halt amid a series of excuses including holidays and shortages. Williams walked away from the project in February, leaving Dave and Claire to complete the extension themselves with help from other tradespeople and Dave’s own labor, resulting in an additional £60,000 expense and leaving them £16,000 out of pocket. Dave described the toll it took on his family life and his wife’s health, citing her “significant mental and physical symptoms,” including panic attacks and insomnia.
Another victim, 75-year-old Mark Barber-Riley from Holywell, hired Williams to build a downstairs bedroom for his disabled grandson in March 2022. Although the work initially progressed, it slowed drastically and remained incomplete by January 2023. Williams claimed he could not source workers, even after Mark personally found an electrician and arranged payment. “He [Williams] agreed to pay him… but then he contacted me to say that he had no money. I felt that was shocking,” Mark said. Ultimately, Mark paid Williams £44,000 and had to spend an additional £20,000 to finish the job without him.
Williams, originally from Mynydd Isa, Flintshire, was imprisoned last December following his convictions for theft and fraud by false representation. His victims have called for stricter oversight and regulation to protect homeowners from similar exploitation. The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) expelled Williams’s company, Chris Williams Construction, from its membership in March 2023 after a second complaint about delays and incomplete work. Prior to expulsion, the FMB had placed the company under monitoring and conducted investigations involving trading standards officers. An FMB spokesperson acknowledged that despite rigorous vetting and inspections, a small percentage of members fall below expected standards, although only 2% of jobs undertaken by FMB members lead to complaints. The Federation continues to advocate for mandatory licensing of builders. Earlier this year, the Department for Business and Trade expressed support for the TrustMark scheme, which assists consumers in finding reputable tradespeople and offers recourse when standards are not met
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