Rogue trader left ‘gaping hole’ in woman’s house after taking £10k deposit

Roberts never finished the building work that his victim paid £17,000 for him to complete - (The Insolvency Service)

A builder who left a gaping hole in a woman’s house where her kitchen once stood has been handed a suspended jail sentence.

Gary Roberts, from Cheshire, persuaded his victim to pay over £17,000 for new windows and a rear extension in 2021, which he never completed. The 60-year-old then paid himself more than £11,000 in funds from his GR Developments 1 Ltd company at the time it was entering liquidation.