Double glazing fitter is guilty of fraud

A double glazing fitter who took hundreds of pounds off a pensioner without carrying out any work on his home has been found guilty of fraud and theft.

Stephen Dunleavy denied obtaining £200 from 73-year-old widower Harold Homer, who lives in Cradley Heath, for work to double glaze his porch and install a new front door.

He also denied taking a further £20 days two days later towards the cost of work on Mr Homer's front door.

But the 40-year-old, of Summergate, Dudley, was found guilty by a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday of dishonestly obtaining £200 by fraud and theft of £20.

Earlier, the trial heard how Dunleavy had come into contact with Mr Homer when he helped double glaze the rest of the house when working for Safestyle UK in the summer of 2008 but came back and said he was self-employed.

After Mr Homer agreed for Dunleavy to carry out the work on the door and porch, the builder took a £200 deposit from him on September 2 2008 to pay for materials.

Three months later no work had been done and promises to either finish the job or pay back the cash had been broken.

The jury heard how Mr Homer had become so frustrated with the lack of progress by November 2008 that he referred the matter to trading standards officials. Mr Mark

Jackson, prosecuting for Sandwell Council's Trading Standards team, said Dunleavy produced no invoices or receipts. Mr Daniel Oscroft, defending, earlier told the trial his client was a "rubbish businessman" but not a criminal. But he conceded Dunleavy told "lie after lie" about delays in the building work.

Recorder Nigel Baker QC said: "With regards your sentence, all options are open." He adjourned the case for pre-sentence reports and granted bail. A date is yet to be fixed.

Pensioner Harold Homer said after yesterday's verdict his encounter with Dunleavy left him so upset he was unable to sleep at night. The 73-year-old said: "He was just out for whatever he could get. I wanted to go through with the prosecution because if I can stop one more person going through what I went through it will be a good thing."