The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Probe into claim bogus workman stole £800
Man accused of taking money and not carrying out work says it’s ‘rubbish’
Police are investigating after a Dundee mother-of-three claimed a “conman” stole £800 after promising to carry out work in her garden.
Michelle Knight paid William Stewart, known as Billy, to cut a hedge at her St Boswells Terrace home on May 18.
Michelle said she and her partner, Darren Whyte, were then convinced to use £800 they had saved to buy a headstone for their stillborn son Mason to spruce up their back garden.
They wanted to put up new fences so it was safe for their three other children – Kacey, 7, Kailyn, 4, and Nolan, 1 – but claim Stewart took the money and has not been seen since.
When contacted by The Courier he denied any wrongdoing and later said it was not him who had agreed to do the work in the first place.
Michelle said: “We had been saving up to get a headstone but this man came out to do the hedge. We’ve got other kids and so wanted to do up the garden.
“He had the gift of the gab and said it would be a brilliant garden. My partner even drove to the cash machine with him. We gave him £800 but he just disappeared.”
Michelle said she repeatedly tried to phone Mr Stewart but it was only when she began posting messages on his Facebook page that he responded.
He texted to say he had lost his phone and broken his fingers, which was why he had not been back in touch.
After posting a message on Facebook about Mr Stewart, Michelle was inundated with replies from others who said they had fallen prey to similar scams, allegedly perpetrated by the same man.
Carnoustie restaurateur Tariq Khan Ash claimed he employed Stewart as a delivery driver but Stewart failed to turn up and kept around £200 worth of deliveries belonging to The Euphrates takeaway in the town.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said inquiries were continuing into the allegation.
Mr Stewart denied any wrongdoing. When first contacted he said he had purchased materials for the fence but that Michelle had decided not to go ahead with the work. He denied not responding to her calls.
He said: “That’s a lot of rubbish. I answered them back but had done my fingers – I got them trapped in a slab. I offered to do the work and she said she would get back to me but hasn’t.”
Stewart later called back to say he had spoken to an unnamed solicitor and that the work had been agreed by a friend, whose name he refused to give, rather than him and that the sum paid for the fence had been £300 not £800.
He also denied working as a delivery driver as he said he has never held a driving licence or any job.
He added that he was being blamed on Facebook for incidents he could not have been responsible for as he was in prison at the time for passing stolen cheques.