Fitter's 'lie after lie' on porch work

A double glazing fitter who told "lie after lie after lie" when he took hundreds of pounds from a Black Country pensioner has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Stephen Dunleavy had denied obtaining £200 from 73-year-old Cradley Heath widower Harold Homer for work to double glaze his porch and install a new front door. He was found guilty, after a trial, of theft and fraud.

The 40-year-old, of Summergate in Dudley, also denied taking a further £20 two days later towards the cost of work on Mr Homer's front door.

He received a six-week suspended jail sentence at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday. Mr Daniel Oscroft, defending, said: "It is clear Mr Dunleavy met his match in Mr Homer."

The court had earlier heard Dunleavy met Mr Homer in 2008.

He had helped double glaze his house while working for Safestyle UK but Dunleavy 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 on September 2, 2008 to pay for materials.

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

Mr Homer became so frustrated with the lack of progress by November 2008 that he referred the matter to trading standards.

Mr Oscroft argued his client was a "rubbish businessman" but not a criminal. He urged Nigel Baker to pass a lenient sentence on the gounds of it being a relatively small amount of money taken. He also said Dunleavy had now repaid the victim.