Dudley semi-pro darts player jailed after conning customers out of nearly £69k while running landscaping business
A Dudley semi-professional darts player has been jailed for 34 months after conning customers of his gardening and landscaping business out of nearly £69,000.
Kevin Bambrick thought he had hit the bullseye when he charged customers for work that he either never started or didn't complete, often producing false invoices for materials he said he had brought.
In a case brought by Dudley Council, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard the 36-year-old father of three - whose walk-on music is the Liquidator and nickname is BamBam - left bank accounts of some of his 11 victims empty and often became aggressive if they didn't come up with payments he said were needed for materials.
In many cases, Bambrick was either recommended by friends of people he was doing work for or would simply put himself forward for work on a neighbouring property when talking to the householders over the garden fence.
One of them - Fatima Mohammed - was driven to the point of illness after her dealings with Bambrick, who called at her home in Rowley Regis in July 2021 telling her he was working on a neighbour's property and asked her if she needed any work doing.
Mark Jackson, prosecuting said: "He subsequently told her he had been passed by Trading Standards and he was registered with 'Book a Builder'.
"That was a lie, and the purpose of that lie was to instill confidence in her and it worked, because she was taken in."
Bambrick pressured Mrs Mohammed for stage payments and eventually persuaded her to have a new bathroom and kitchen. She had to move out of her house as she was left with no bathroom, heating or water.
When she moved back in on the deadline for work to be completed in December 2021, he told her the boiler had been fixed - but when she turned it on water poured through her kitchen, causing flooding to parts of the ground floor and damaging furniture.
She had to take out a loan of £15,000 to install a bathroom and repair the damage caused by the flooding which affected the kitchen, the floorboards and joists of the property.
Messages to Bambrick from Mrs Mohammed were read out to the court and spoke of "a nightmare" for her.
They said: "I have paid for products I have never seen, labour that's nowhere near being done and issues which need supervision, skill and managing.
"I am in a financially vulnerable position and it's making me ill - I feel something bad is about to happen and there is nothing I can do about it."
Later messages sent in February spoke of her being effectively homeless and financially challenged, having handed over £27,000 to him in total.
The financial loss between the 11 victims totalled £68,767.
In Bambrick's defence Stephen Hamblett said he had started off as a small-time workman doing odd jobs by word-of-mouth but these had escalated.
He said: "He took on too much too soon, he wasn't technically minded enough to carry out the jobs he undertook, and it all got out of hand."
Bambrick, of Sanders Close, Dudley, had already admitted a charge of fraudulent trading at an earlier hearing.
The 36-year-old is listed on the Professional Darts Players Association website as having amassed £1,415 in his career - he has played nationally and also in leagues in the Dudley and Sandwell area.
Sentencing him, Recorder Michael Duck KC said in all cases people had invited him into their homes and put their trust in him.
He said: "Not only did you abuse that trust but when you didn't get the money you wanted you were often abrasive towards them."