JAILED: Cowboy builder left Wednesfield house uninhabitable and owners facing a £14k repair bill
A cowboy builder whose appalling standard of work left a house uninhabitable and requiring thousands of pounds worth of repairs has been jailed.
Michael Doody took on the £21,000 job to refurbish a pensioner's home despite not being qualified to carry out the task, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
Following a three-month project, from which he paid himself £200 a week, Doody left the three-bedroom house in Wednesfield in a terrible state.
There was no running hot water, the fitted shower was a fire risk due to inadequate cabling and tiles were not probably secured on the roof.
The scale of bad work was so bad, pensioner Jennifer Hubbard, aged 67, was forced to move out while work to repair it will cost £14,700.
Two years on she has yet to return to the property.
Jailing Doody for one year, Recorder Stuart Sprawson said: "You are anything but the capable builder that Mrs Hubbard expected you to be."
He added: "Mrs Hubbard, rather than enjoy the fruits of her hard work and pension has been left devastated."
The court heard how Mrs Hubbard came into contact with Doody after he had been recommended by a friend.
Having received a pension pay-out, the retired social worker paid £21,000 over dozens of payments for the work.
But Mrs Hubbard, along with her two daughters, became concerned about the standard of work.
And when the family confronted Doody at his home over work, he told them ' I have spent the money, you will never get the money out of me', prosecutor Jane Sarginson said.
Ms Sarginson said Doody's work was gradually being redone, at a cost of £14,700. She said: "The whole thing was a disaster from beginning to end."
Defending Doody, Mr Preet-Paul Tutt said: "He has taken on a job which he does not have competence to carry out. He was out of his depth, he thought he could carry it out, but he could not.
"The whole incident is extremely regrettable."
Doody, 50, of Hobley Street, Willenhall, was found guilty of six counts of engaging in unfair commercial practice after a trial.
After the sentencing, Mrs Hubbard said: "I'm yet to get my money back, but at least I've got justice."
Wolverhampton council trading standards led the prosecution.
Councillor Steve Evans, cabinet member for city environment, said: “I welcome the court’s decision to jail Michael Doody.
"He turned this poor victim’s home into a dangerous house of horrors with a catalogue of shoddy workmanship."