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Sheri Ingram’s experience with a dishonest builder left her home in disrepair and herself out of pocket by £14,000 after the contractor vanished. This incident was part of a broader pattern involving Lee Slocombe, a Swansea-based builder who was sentenced to six years in prison in February for defrauding nine victims of a total of £400,000. Slocombe’s case is just the latest in a decade-long series of offences that have caused significant financial and emotional damage to his clients.
The UK government has recently introduced plans aimed at protecting homeowners from such “cowboy builders” by creating a database of vetted and trustworthy tradespeople. Ingram, who lives in Cardiff, expressed cautious optimism about the initiative but questioned how compelling the incentive might be for builders to register voluntarily. Other affected homeowners, including a couple left £30,000 worse off by another rogue trader, felt the scheme could enhance confidence when hiring professionals. Ingram reflected on her own experience, saying, “He (Slocombe) was recommended to us by a serving police officer who my ex knew. So why on earth would we have not trusted him?”
Slocombe’s criminal activities stretched over 11 years, during which he used a false identity to continue soliciting work even while on bail. The troubles began in 2015 after Ingram and her former partner bought a property in Aberbeeg, Blaenau Gwent, intending to renovate it. At just 21 years old, Ingram entrusted Slocombe with a project to extend the house and create an open-plan ground floor. Although initially communicative, Slocombe began identifying supposed issues and consistently demanded additional funds. After six weeks, he abruptly ceased contact, leaving the project unfinished and Ingram out of pocket.
In addition to his six-year sentence in February, Slocombe, 33, of Delhi Street, Swansea, was found guilty of conducting hazardous building work in Cardiff, Bridgend, and Swansea. The fraud not only cost his victims £400,000 but led to over £547,000 in total damages when accounting for corrective expenses, according to Cardiff council. He admitted to operating a fraudulent business from March 2021 to May 2023, during which time he even brought an unqualified and fake gas engineer to some jobs, creating dangerous conditions in the affected properties. Slocombe received a lifetime ban from all building, maintenance, and gardening work and has been barred from serving as a company director until 2031. Reflecting on the government’s new measures, Ingram said, “There needs to be better protections in place, there has to be,” but added skepticism about the voluntary nature of the scheme and whether it would be effective in preventing similar cases
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