‘Disgust’ after jailed rogue trader ordered to pay back just £1
Victims’ anger at £95k fraud
A ROGUE trader’s victim left with up to £50,000 worth of repairs to do has said he is ‘disgusted' a heartless window fitter jailed for a £180,000 fraud has been ordered to pay back just £1.
Shameless Scott Dungworth left several properties of ‘vulnerable’ clients in ruins, marred by a plethora of botched building works.
The rogue trader, of Camcross Close, Paulsgrove, was locked up in November for his crimes after being convicted at Portsmouth Crown Court for fraud.
Yesterday the 44-year-old cheat appeared back in court via a videolink from prison for a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Dungworth was ruled to have made £95,607.07 – but the court heard he had no available assets.
Ordering him to pay back just £1, Judge Roger Hetherington said: ‘I make an order finding the benefit of the sum of £95,601.07p, the available amount being the sum of £1 and there will be one month to pay and one month in default of payment.’
If he ever comes into more money, prosecutors can claw back more cash.
Victims David and Pearl
Barnden, aged 76 and 78, were left wracked with worry after losing around £57,000 to Dungworth.
Speaking to The News yesterday, Mr Barnden said: ‘I’m disgusted actually. The money he made from us was scandalous and I wasn't aware of all the other people that appeared in court.
‘The fact that he's only got to pay back £1 – I’m actually speechless.
'My house is still in bits. It’s livable but the outside is half rendered and the bottom half is left.'
Mr Barnden said he has been told remedial work to his home in Cosham will cost between £30,000 to £50,000.
Dungworth’s fraud forced Mr Barnden to empty his cash ISAs and was only halted when bank staff became suspicious, alerted police and PCSOs went to his house and the scam unraveled.
‘We’re saving up the money to pay for it,’ Mr Barnden said.
‘It’s ridiculous.
‘He took a lot of money from us and all the other people.
‘I was quite amazed by the
number of people he actually duped. He obviously had the gift of the gab.’
As previously reported, deceiving Dungworth left victims at seven Hampshire and West Sussex homes ‘worse off ’ by taking their money and ploughing them with excuses not to undertake work he was contracted to complete in 2016 and 2017.
Dungworth, who goes by Scott Madgwick and Mark, was prosecuted by Trading Standards at Portsmouth City Council after it was alerted to a string of consumer concerns about him.
Investigators used a digital paper trail from an invoice application for independent traders, called Joist, to uncover a comprehensive trail of his victims.
They found he had traded as Skyline Construction Limited and Limelight Builders UK, with other invoices paying reference to Titan Construction.
He was found guilty of 11 counts of fraud and two counts of participating in fraudulent business on November 7.
Speaking at Dungworth’s sentencing hearing last year, Judge Hetherington said: ‘The total loss, including the cost of remedial works that had to be or are yet to be undertaken, has been put at about £180,000.’
He added: ‘You did not do the work you promised to do and gave the householders endless excuses, which would have become worrying in the extreme and ultimately very distressing and upsetting to them.’
The court heard there was no evidence Dungworth used fraudulent money for ‘high living’, but often took cash and put it ‘straight into his pocket’.
Judge Hetherington also imposed a criminal behaviour order which banned Dungworth from advertising, offering to supply, supplying, performing or contracting to perform building services.
Stringent rules were applied on him providing any future window services. If he breaks the rules, he can be jailed for up to five years.
As reported, Dungworth was cleared of fraud in relation to misleading Mr and Mrs Barnden about their gable wall.
The fact that he's only got to pay back £1 – I’m actually speechless.
David Barnden