Builder’s work for gran ‘dangerously below standards’

A ROGUE builder charged a grandmother tens of thousands of pounds for renovation work that “dangerously” failed to meet building regulations.

Marc Foley, through his now dissolved company Maf Construction and Sons Limited, carried out a loft conversion at Diane McDonald’s home in Cardiff in 2015 costing £25,650.

But Cardiff council’s building control department found the work did not comply with building regulations.

Cardiff Magistrates’ Court heard how Mrs McDonald considered herself to be a “vulnerable person” and contacted Foley to carry out the work.

But he failed to provide a building completion certificate, and Mrs McDonald had to pay another contractor another £27,000 to rectify the work so it met regulations.

The court heard Mrs McDonald received psychiatric support due to the stress caused by Foley.

She said: “He was a family friend and I trusted him and I was assured that he would be able to carry out the work. I am devastated. I had only just retired and I have had to go back to work to sort all this out.”

Foley, 48, pleaded guilty to three charges under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

District Judge Bodfan Jenkins described the situation as “a particularly serious case”.

He said: “This is a case, in my view, where an element of deception fraud has taken place, this is when someone comes along and doesn’t carry out the work properly. There is, in my view, a sprinkling of this in this case and due to this, this case goes way beyond financial penalty.”

He added: “Marc Foley you acted dishonestly, failed to deal with the issues appropriately, failed to honour a guarantee and your work was way below the standards and dangerously so.”

Foley, of Allensbank Road, Cardiff, will appear at Cardiff Crown Court for sentencing on November 23.