A man who lost £2,000 for paving work which was never done has insisted justice has not been done despite the workman being 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 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, of King's Lynn Fencing and Landscapes, in Lynn.

On Monday Johnson, who previously admitted carrying on a business for a fraudulent purpose, was jailed for 14 months by Judge Katharine Moore who said he had "fobbed off" customers.

And now one of those victims, Pratik Upadhyay, has hit out at the sentence, questioning whether justice really has been done.

Mr Upadhyay, of Regency Avenue, Lynn, paid a £2,000 deposit for £4,000 worth of paving work which was to be carried out by Johnson but was never started.

Reflecting on the sentence given to Johnson, the 40-year-old said: "I have lost my money. I've not got any of the £2,000 back.

"He's got 14 months but will do half of it.

"For me the money is gone, for me it's not really justice."

Mr Upadhyay said he had come to know of Johnson through Facebook and contacted him to come round and give him a quote for the work, which he did in July 2020.

At first all appeared to be fine and Johnson "seemed really genuine".

"He seemed like a family man - I trusted him."

But Mr Upadhyay soon realised all was not as it seemed when, after having paid out £2,0000, he could not get Johnson back round to do the work.

He said: "There was a lot of texts, a lot of messages, a lot of voicemails."

He said he was repeatedly given times when he would come only for him not to show.

"All I had was dates. He never intended to come."

The victim said he realised after a couple of weeks or so that Johnson was not going to come back and got in touch with Norfolk Trading Standards.

It was then, after doing a bit of research into Johnson, that he realised he was not the only one who had been duped and that there were many others who had been conned.

He said: "I became aware of other people. That was the real downside."

On Monday the court heard Johnson, of Wildfields Road, Clenchwarton, had duped customers in Lynn, Hunstanton and Thetford between 2018 and 2021.

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 action.

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."

She added: "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.”

Confiscation proceedings, under proceeds of crime legislation, will follow and will include consideration of compensation for victims, as well as for the costs of the investigation.

To help protect themselves, people are urged to go to www.norfolk.gov/trusted trader to find good, reputable local traders.