Cowboy builder who left elderly Cheshire resident £21k out of pocket avoids jail
The 39-year-old "exploited a vulnerable person"
Chester Crown Court(Image: Ian Cooper)
A cowboy builder who left an elderly resident thousands of pounds out of pocket has avoided jail. Danny Quinn, 39, was handed an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Chester Crown Court.
He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work. Quinn, of Cransley Road, Kettering, previously pleaded guilty to two counts of theft.
The court was told that Quinn had received a total of over £21,850 for an illegitimate ‘building project’ from a 76-year-old man in Congleton. The case came to the attention of Cheshire Police in October 2022, after the victim’s bank contacted them to flag concerns about large transactions being made from his account.
It was uncovered that on 21 March 2022, Quinn knocked on the victim’s door, offering to do gardening work for him. Over the next month, the victim paid Quinn over £12,000 to complete work for him. Whilst some of this work was completed to a satisfactory standard, some of the work Quinn did for the victim remained incomplete.
After paying money to Quinn, the victim was called a few days later by the 39-year-old, who stated he had forgotten to include a VAT rate on one of the payments and needed an extra £1,000 more from the him, which was subsequently paid. In May, Quinn contacted the victim and told him that he was involved in a building project, asking if he wanted to invest money in the project for a return on his investment.
Between May and September, the victim handed over a total of £21,850 to Quinn towards this project and never received any details as to what it was. Due to the scale of these transactions, restrictions were placed on the victim’s bank account, which prompted Quinn to ask the victim to continue sending money from an alternative account.
Following the launch of the investigation into Quinn, he would contact the victim on a withheld number and told him to tell the police that the money he had sent over had been sent in good faith. The victim told investigating officers that he felt under pressure to pay the money and was told by Quinn that he had two other investors alongside him, who were at risk of losing their investments.
Quinn was arrested on 7 December 2022, and during his interview with police, he admitted that he was the individual who had received the money from the victim. However, he denied using the money for investment projects, claiming that it was for tool hire, building materials, and transportation. Despite claiming he had not done anything wrong, he would be subsequently charged.
Detective Constable Sarah Newton, who led the investigation into Quinn’s offending, said: “Danny Quinn exploited a vulnerable person under the guise that he would be completing building and maintenance work at his home. Despite claiming that he repaired a garden wall, power-washed a driveway, lifted and re-laid part of it, regularly mowed lawns and trimmed hedges, he could not say when he did what or how much he charged for each service. Not only this, but some of the work he did do, remained incomplete.
“Quinn also claimed not to have any recollection of telling the victim he would be investing his money into a ‘building project’ and claims the victim offered to lend him money because he was facing financial difficulties. Our investigation proved his claims otherwise, with mobile messages referring to the project that, supposedly, required the victims’ money.
“Thankfully, his offending has been brought to a conclusion, with Quinn pleading guilty to the charges facing him and being ordered to complete over 200 hours of work, for which he will not be paid. I hope this case serves as a reminder to people to report any similar offences, we will do all we can to support victims in cases like this. You can report information or suspicions online or by calling 101.”