Rogue builder left roof unfinished
NEAL KEELING
AROGUE roofer from Accrington subjected a cancer survivor to a ‘living nightmare’.
Days after being given the all-clear from her illness, Patsy Stevens decided to get her life back on track. Top of the list was a new roof for her 130-year-old house.
But after she chose builder Joseph Gerrard for the job at her terraced home, she was forced to endure a ‘living nightmare’ for 18 months.
Gerrard, of St Leger Court, demanded thousands for the work. But Patsy returned from holiday to find her roof was open to the elements, rainwater had poured into her house, ruining her bedroom.
Gerrard was prosecuted by Trading Standards and promised to pay Patsy back. But she has never had a penny from him – and when she chased up her money, she found his work address did not exist.
In June, a year after botching the job at Patsy’s Salford home, Gerrard, 48, pleaded guilty to a charge of unfair commercial practice. But during a break in his case he fled court and spent months at large. However, he was arrested last week and is now expected to be sentenced this month for the original offence and a Bail Act offence, both of which he has admitted.
Patsy said: “I must have sent texts and made phone calls 60 times but he never got back to me. I had been told a few days earlier that I was in the clear after breast cancer.
“I took out a loan and was hoping to get a new roof, windows and door.
“Mr Gerrard came round and sounded very professional and knowledgeable, and said he had been in business for 25 years. He asked for a £1,000 deposit which made me feel a bit nervous. I wrote a cheque, then cancelled it. As soon as I did that he turned up with workmen and materials, and made me feel guilty that I had doubted him. I said OK and paid him £1,000 in cash.”
Gerrard, who had quoted Patsy £3,820 for the job, later demanded another £2,000, he said to pay scaffolders.
“I ended up paying him another £1,500”, she said. “I felt I was over a barrel, with the roof stripped I felt pressure to pay up. I went away on holiday thinking he was doing the roof.
“But when I came back it was such a mess. Tiles had been removed leaving the rain to come in. Water was running down the walls in the bedroom and pouring into the loft.
“The work was left unfinished. I never saw him again.”