'A rogue trader through and through': Gardener jailed over shoddy and uncompleted work

Kevin Baggott, of Newbury Lane, Oldbury, pleaded guilty to a number of breaches at Wolverhampton Crown Court under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

The case was brought to court by Dudley Council's trading standards department following an investigation.

The court heard that in April 2018, Baggott had taken on a landscaping job for a Dudley resident – with the full cost of the job expected to be £6,100 and he had taken the full amount in cash up front.

Baggott then failed to start the job on the agreed date – and when he did start his work, it was of poor quality. He left the job incomplete and the consumer did not receive all of the materials for the job.

As part of the investigation by Dudley Council, three similar complaints also came to light. All of the complainants were left with poor quality and incomplete jobs – and had to pay other tradesmen substantial sums to put right the defects and complete the work.

In sentencing Baggott to 48 weeks in prison on May 19, Judge Rhona Campbell said that she had no doubt the complainants wished they had never met him, that he was dishonest, either did not do the work or when work was done it was "beyond shoddy", appalling and on occasion dangerous. She said he had either not provided materials or had removed them from site.

Councillor Nicolas Barlow, Dudley Council's cabinet member responsible for Dudley Trading Standards, said: "Baggot clearly thought he could get away with taking people’s cash without carrying out the work fully or to a decent standard, with little regard for the impact on his customers.

"He is a rogue trader through and through and I am glad our trading standards officers were able to investigate and take this case to court.

"Let this be a warning to other rogue traders out there, we take these matters seriously and will pursue them to get justice for our residents."