Businessmen 'inflated cost of building work to pocket money for themselves'

Neil Law and Peter Mitchell, trading with a company known as Olympus Gas Ltd of Stourbridge, are accused of failing to provide John and Joanne Roberts with adequate quotes for work carried out at a house they had bought in Redlake Road, Stourbridge, between March 9 and September 30 2020.

They both face four allegations of fraudulent trading, with six counts of fraudulent misrepresentation levelled against the firm.

Dudley Council's Trading Standards team is bringing the case against them at Wolverhampton Crown Court, sitting at Park Hall Hotel.

They council alleges attempts were made to charge the couple a sum of £254,000 for 'extensive' work at the property, which needed major building, plastering, roofing and new bathrooms as well as renovation of other rooms.

An initial verbal estimate in March 2020 was made of the sum which Mrs Roberts thought was quite high but her mother was terminally ill and she 'was not in any position to question it or obtain other quotes,' Mark Jackson, prosecuting, said.

He said: "Neither of them would have entered into an agreement with people who didn't have extensive experience of major renovation and building work as they were led to believe Law and Mitchell had.

"Indeed Mrs Roberts became friendly with them to the point where they were talking about her buying a property and them renovating it before selling it on – they even went to an auction together where they didn't buy a property but were interested in bidding on one.

"She trusted them to project manage the work and at one point records show she gave them £30,000 from her own bank to do so. She didn't ask initially for a breakdown of funds but was told a contract would be drawn up, but it wasn't.

Mr Jackson said the couple were told not to speak to contractors who were coming in to carry out the work on the property but to go through them at all times, which they did.

He said: "One example was when they were quoted £35,000 by Olympus Gas for the roofing work carried out by Peter Poole trading as P.D.Poole Roofing.

"Records show that the amount quoted by Mr Poole to Olympus Gas for the work was £15,000. We say they added on the extra and took £20,000 for themselves.

"But nothing was written down in terms of quotes or the breakdown of how the work was going to progress and apart from the initial quote of £254,000 no paperwork was produced, despite the company saying there was going to be a written contract."

Law, of Timbertree Road, Cradley Heath, and Mitchell, of The Lawley, Halesowen, deny all charges.