A 46-YEAR-OLD man will face trial later this year after allegedly taking £4,000 for building work at a Uttoxeter home and never starting it.
Richard Davies, of Hamilton Avenue, Uttoxeter, denied defrauding Malaysian national Wah Choo Woo, of Stafford Road, between September 1, 2010 and April 27, 2011 when he appeared before Burton Magistrates’ Court last week.
He also denied another charge of fraud in Burton between April 1, 2011 and November 1, 2011 after allegedly taking £1,300 from Colin Bray for fencing work which he never completed and he will face a separate trial on that charge.
John Peel, prosecuting, first spoke about the incident involving Wah Choo Woo in Uttoxeter and said Davies had met with Mr Woo and signed a written contract under the name Davies and Son to carry out building works at his Stafford Road property.
Mr Peel said: “£4,000 was paid by Mr Woo there and then. The total value of the quote was £12,000.
“No work was started. Mr Davies says he has given £3,000 back to Mr Woo but that is denied by him and he says he is still £4,000 out of pocket.” Adrian Pearce, defending, told the court that the work did not begin as Mr Woo had attempted to barter down the total cost from £12,000 to £9,000 and Davies had refused to budge.
He said: “As a matter of good faith my client refunded £3,000 to Mr Woo even though the £4,000 was a non-refundable deposit.” Speaking about the second denied offence, Mr Peel said the alleged victim Mr Bray had contacted Davies about having some fencing work done after a flyer was delivered to his door.
Mr Peel said: “The flyer was for a company called Easybuild Building Services in Shobnall Road, Burton.
“It had a fax number on it which transpires was actually for the gastroenterology unit at Burton’s Queen’s Hospital.
“Written contracts were signed and Mr Bray handed over £1,300. Fencing work was started but not finished and Mr Bray had to pay an extra £750 to have the work completed by another firm.” Mr Pearce, in defence, said Davies had had to postpone the fencing work because of poor weather conditions but when he tried to rearrange he was told by Mr Bray not to bother coming back.
Davies will face trial for the alleged fraud in Burton at Burton Magistrates Court on Thursday, December 6 and for the alleged fraud in Uttoxeter a week later on Thursday, December 13. He was given unconditional bail.
Meanwhile, Davies pleaded guilty to two other fraud charges relating to utility accounts he falsely set up.
He admitted committing fraud between October 15, 2008 and September 9 this year by opening accounts with South Staffordshire Water in the names of Zoey Pinkerton and Andrew King intending to make a gain, namely the supply of water to his Hamilton Avenue home.
He also admitted doing the same between March 22, 2009 and April 25 this year by opening accounts with Scottish and Southern electricity in the names of Sharon Clarke, Amanda Tunnicliffe, Zoey Pinkerton and Andrew King.
He will be sentenced for those offences once both trials have been completed.
