Gloucester builder gang scammed nearly £1m

Gloucester builder gang 'scammed nearly £1m'

A gang of cowboy builders made nearly £1m scamming more than 50 homeowners across the south of England, a jury has heard.

The gang's alleged boss, Nicholas Harris, would threaten violence or legal action if victims asked too many questions, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Mark Dixon, Matthew Higgins, Leighton Docksey and Lee Ireson all worked for Mr Harris' Gloucester-based businesses.

All five deny charges of conspiracy to defraud.

Source BBC

'Luxurious home'

The court heard that Mr Harris was in charge of the businesses, Construction Management Development Ltd and CMD Services Ltd, which specialised in building one and two-storey house extensions.

Before starting a contract the gang is said to have collected as much cash up front as possible from homeowners then disappeared, having never completed the work.

They are said to have conned people out of more than £900,000 for contracts totalling £1.8m.

Prosecutor Rupert Lowe told jurors that Mr Harris attempted to distance himself from the massive fraud by making Mr Higgins and Mr Docksey company directors and claiming he was only a paid "independent consultant" earning £120,000 a year.

"He was the person, say the prosecution, who was behind CMD," Mr Lowe said.

"He set it up. He ran it from his undoubted luxurious home."

He added: "He was not just a fraudster but also a bully and he was quite impervious to his victims injuring themselves having fallen down a hole or losing their money.

"Mr Harris would use pseudo-legal language, threatening the courts for breach of contract and saying the work would be called off.

"If customers came to the office there would be threats of violence."

Legal undertaking

The jury was told that some of the defendants used false names when dealing with aggrieved homeowners.

Mr Lowe said that Mr Higgins "was pleased to have employment" and would do whatever his boss told him to do.

The court heard that in April 2006 Mr Dixon was made subject of an order by a judge at the Mercantile Court in Bristol banning him from many "unacceptable" building trade practices.

Mr Dixon, 43, of Ash Lane, Down Hatherley; Mr Harris, 45, of Ash Path, Upton St Leonards; Mr Higgins, 33, of Nelson Street; Docksey, 34, of Bathurst Road, all Gloucester; and Mr Ireson, 30, of Benhall Gardens, Gloucester Road, Cheltenham, deny the conspiracy between April 2005 and October 2007.

The trial is expected to last more than three months.

Posted Date: 15th Sep 2010