A cowboy builder who fleeced a customer out of almost £30,000 and left her home at risk of falling has been jailed
Wolverhampton mum has spoken of the devastation a cowboy builder caused.
Andrew Tedstill took £29,000 of Affy Paul’s money after threatening to knock her walls down unless she kept paying up.
He walked away from the job after bleeding her dry and leaving the family home with a leaking roof and no heating or washing facilities.
Ms Paul explains how she had trusted the builder to complete the work on their home, but instead was left facing a further £20,000 bill to put the botched job right.
“I trusted Andrew to come and do the work in my house and as it unfolded he was a rogue trader,” she said.
“And it’s actually had an emotional, physical and financial impact on my life and my children’s life.”
Affy paid Tedstill stage payments and questioned him when he wasn’t completing each stage before moving onto the next.
She added: “It was a case of it was all about the money, that’s all it was, it was about the financial gain for him.
“But it was a life-changing lifestyle for myself and my children that I wasn’t expecting to have.”
Ms Paul says rogue traders like Tedstill must be made an example of and prevented from targeting residents, especially “vulnerable women”.
During the works, Tedstill cut through cables, leaving the property in Penn, Wolverhampton, with no internet for 18 months and a house alarm that didn’t work.
Wolverhampton Trading Standards took the case up and Tedstill, of Green Oak Road, Codsall, was jailed for seven months at the city’s crown court on Tuesday, March 27.
Ms Paul said: “I chose to trust this man and allow him into the privacy of our home, to renovate an extension I’ve wanted for so long.
“It soon dawned on me that my home had been invaded by a cowboy builder, who had no intentions of completing the job and every intention to take all of my money.
“I feared not being able to afford my mortgage payments and often laid awake at night, scared my house would cave in.
“I do not want anyone to go through the trauma I have experienced both financially and emotionally – caused by the mindless criminal behaviour of Andrew Tedstill.
“I am so grateful to Wolverhampton Trading Standards who have enabled me to pursue this matter and get this cowboy builder prosecuted and today, brought to justice.”
Lee Jenks, senior trading standards officer at City of Wolverhampton Council said: “I’m pleased justice has been served.
“Cowboy builders cause a huge amount of stress to the victims who have worked hard and saved to pay for improvements to their home only to be badly let down.
“It’s vital that we bring cases like this to the public’s attention – to ensure they avoid becoming victims of reckless cowboy builders.
“As a council, we have a duty to protect consumers from rogue traders who break the law and carry out sub-standard work and will continue to work to bring rogue traders to justice.”
