A rogue builder tore Sheri Ingram's home apart and "disappeared off the face of the earth" with £14,000. In February, Lee Slocombe, from Swansea, was jailed for six years after defrauding nine victims of £400,000 - with this his latest conviction in a decade of offending. The UK government announced in August plans to give people greater protections against "cowboy builders" through a database of trusted traders.
Ingram, from Cardiff, welcomed it, but questioned where the incentive would be for tradespeople to . Another couple who were "scarred for life" by a rogue trader who left them £30,000 out of pocket said it would give more confidence to homeowners. "He (Slocombe) was recommended to us by a serving police officer who my ex knew," Ingram said.
"So why on earth would we have not trusted him?" Slocombe's offending covered a period of 11 years, and he even targeted nine people to carry out work on their homes when on bail using a false name. It began in 2015 after Ingram and her now ex-partner bought a house in Aberbeeg, Blaenau Gwent, which they planned to renovate and move into. The then 21-year-old appointed Slocombe to build an extension and make the ground floor of the home open plan.
She admitted they were not experts in building work, and while it looked like lots was going on, Slocombe kept finding problems and asking for more cash to solve them. For the first six weeks, he was "very responsive", Ingram said he then "disappeared off the face of the earth" with £14,000. Her ex-partner eventually managed to get hold of him, but he insinuated all the money was gone.
Slocombe suggested he was expecting a payout from an injury that he suffered on another building job, and would get the cash back and continue with the work. The home was later restored by Channel 5 programme Cowboy Builders - aimed at helping families who have been exploited by them. In February, Slocombe, then 33, of Delhi Street, Swansea, was jailed for six years after carrying out dangerous building work at properties in Cardiff, Bridgend and Swansea.
The £400,000 fraud cost his nine victims more than £547,000 in total when adding costs for rectifying his dangerous work, according to Cardiff council, external. He had pleaded guilty to participating in a fraudulent business between March 2021 and May 2023, with one charge against him and one against his company, LSP Developments. Slocombe was on Crown Court bail when these offences were committed.
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