A workman who fraudulently took more than £26,000 for projects he never completed to try and pay off debts has been jailed.

Jamie Johnson, 38, left “household after household” with “sub standard” building and fencing work or jobs that had not been completed as he looked to use the cash from deposits to pay back debts.

Norwich Crown Court heard there were 17 victims who had lost out on £26,500 as a result of fencing and building work meant to have been carried out by Johnson in King's Lynn, Hunstanton and Thetford between 2018 and 2021.

Jamie Sawyer, prosecuting, said victims mainly replied to Facebook adverts from Johnson via his company King’s Lynn Fencing and Landscapes.

Mr Sawyer said that in a number of the cases Johnson obtained a deposit but never returned and failed to repay the cash despite repeated attempts from customers.

The court heard Johnson told one of the victims, a woman who had paid him a £1,000 deposit for work in October 2018, that he had to “fly to Spain” as his father had suffered a stroke.

Meanwhile another victim, lost more than £7,700 for work paid out in May 2020 at a time when her husband was diagnosed with cancer and suffered “significant stress” as a result Johnson's actions.

Mr Sawyer said the offending was aggravated by the fact Johnson continued to take money from people for work after Trading Standards had started investigating complaints made against him.

Johnson, of Wildfields Road, Clenchwarton, appeared at court on Monday (November 1) having previously admitted carrying on a business for a fraudulent purpose between August 2018 and January 2021

Jailing Johnson for 14 months, Judge Katharine Moore said he had “fobbed off” customers who had paid for work which had not been done.

Judge Moore said that there “came a point when your purpose was fraudulent”.

Judge Moore said despite having been contacted by trading standards he continued to “take money and not work” or fail to complete work to “the appropriate standard” which made the offending “so much more serious”.

Giles Fleming, mitigating, said it was not a case where he had “set out with the intention of running a business to defraud customers”.

He said Johnson he had got himself into a position where he was taking on work and getting deposits to “pay off debts”.

Mr Fleming said Johnson borrowed £10,000 from unscrupulous lenders in 2015 but has since paid back £30,000 and resulted in a suicide attempt in 2015.

Speaking after the case, Margaret Dewsbury, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for communities and partnerships, said: “The pattern to the fraudulent actions of this rogue tradesperson was shocking.

"He made more than £26,500, by taking payments from 17 customers, for work that was either never done, or done to such a poor standard that thousands of pounds had to be spent to put it right.

“I welcome this successful outcome and would like to thank the Norfolk County Council Trading Standards team for their diligence in putting together a strong case and securing this conviction.”