A County Durham builder defrauded customers out of over £110,000 and gambled away some of the money.
Stephen Loughlen took thousands from customers across the North East in exchange for incomplete and shoddy work in 2018 and 2019. The 55-year-old, who operated as sole director of Newcastle Facilities and Management, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and appeared at Durham Crown Court on Monday to be sentenced.
Loughlen, of Sunset View, Flint Hill, near Stanley, also pleaded guilty to the charges - which related to three separate customers - on behalf of his company at a previous hearing.
