Portsmouth rogue trader who left customers thousands of pounds out of pocket told to pay back nearly £45,000

Portsmouth builder Sam Hart, 35, of Langley Road, lived a luxurious lifestyle, hiring sports cars while his customers were forced to pick up the pieces of his botched or non-existent work.

But justice finally caught up with Hart as he was locked up for nine months in January and disqualified from being a company director for five years after he pleaded guilty to numerous offences at Portsmouth Crown Court.

Greedy Hart left a trail of devastation after he started trading as Mac and Hart Developments Ltd when he entered into a contract with Deborah Parish, of Lindley Avenue, in the summer of 2018.

Works were to include a loft extension rear dormer and a new single storey rear extension. However, they failed to comply with building regulations - with the pitch of the roof built at the wrong measurement resulting in the roof leaking via the pivot windows.

It left Ms Parish suffering significant financial loss, having to fork out £11,000 to fix the work.

She ended up selling the property at a loss as the pitch of the roof was never fixed.

Hart then went on to form another company Harkins Construction Ltd. In January 2020 he agreed to the full refurbishment of a property in Fareham for the sum of £120,000.

But the works were never completed with Hart diverting funds paid by the couple of Walton Court to help with the liquidation of his previous company.

Hart also hired luxury cars including Mercedes and BMW vehicles.

The couple spent an additional £50,000 on top of the £120,000 already paid to get their property completed.

Hart also claimed to be Gas Safe and NICEIC registered when neither he nor the company were.

During a proceeds of crime hearing on Friday, Hart was ordered to pay back £43,481.89.

Speaking in January, judge David Melville QC said: ‘It was a most appalling series of events.’

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Hart pleaded guilty to six offences contrary to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, contravening requirements of professional diligence, failing to provide cancellation notices, and the unauthorised use of Gas Safe and NICEIC logos.