Shoddy builder jailed for three and a half years after wrecking disabled girl's home
A heartless builder who charged a vulnerable family £80,000 only to wreck their home and destroy their disabled daughter's bedroom has been jailed for three and a half years.
Lee James Millard, who traded under Millard Building Services based in Hollywell Street, Bilston, lied repeatedly to the Dudley family whose home is still in disarray from his botched job two years ago.
Shazia Al-Mohammed's disabled and incontinent daughter died last year after being forced to spend the last 18 months of her life unable to be cleaned properly.
In a victim statement the distraught mother said: "It is impossible to put into words how this affected my family and beloved daughter. The last 18 months of her life when we should have been making memories, instead we were living in a dangerous building site and she lost her privacy and dignity."
Millard appeared before Wolverhampton Crown Court after pleading guilty to fraud just weeks before a trial was about to start.
Millard knew the extension he promised to build a desperate family would change their disabled daughter's life.
However, he wrecked her life by robbing her of the dignity her washroom gave her, three years later the house is still in disarray.
The 37-year-old charged the Al-Mohammed family over £80,000 and left them in debt and distraught knowing their daughter died last November after years of trauma.
Trading as Millard Building Services, from Hollywell Street, Bilston, Millard boasted on social media he could carry out complicated construction work.
However, when it came to finishing the Al-Mohammed's home he left it like a building site, with exposed electric wires, holes in the floor and roof and covered in cement. He then began demanding more money to finish the job claiming he needed more cash to pay the subcontractors who caused the damage.
Prosecutor Mark Chapman said: "The affect on the family was considerable, this is why we believe a custodial sentence is the correct outcome.
"In a victim impact statement they said words can not describe the ordeal they have been through. And are still going through, this has been going on for more than three years now.!
In mitigation Millard's lawyer Lewis Perry said Millard was remorseful for his actions and now suffered with anxiety. This was the first time he had been charged with an offence connected with his company.
Jailing Millard for three and a half years Judge Recorder David Lock KC said: "You were engaged into the building trade, which you fell into by accident, and you undertook some jobs successfully.
"You made a series of dishonest representations in order to secure the job, which were not true, like you would do a competent job, that you would not charge extras and you would clean up every day.
"As the job progressed you made further false statements, demanded money and threatened to leave the site and blaming everyone else instead of accepting responsibility.
"You put wholly inappropriate pressure on the family and you left the work undone knowing a severely disabled child was in the house knowing the purpose of the work was to improve her life."
He added: "The affect on the household because of your work was very substantial, they suffered financial losses and had to engage other builders. I accept you are not responsible for the death of their daughter but you were responsible for the appalling conditions she had to live the last 18 months of her life."
A hearing for compensation and costs will be heard in October.
