Dodgy builder defrauds more victims – by using false name
Report and photos via WALES NEWS SERVICE.
A NOTORIOUS Rogue builder has been jailed for the THIRD time – and banned from ever working on people’s homes again.
Photo: via WNS.
Lee Slocombe, 33, cost homeowners at least £547,000 in his series of cowboy works leaving homes wrecked.
On 11th February, a judge at Cardiff Crown Court who jailed him for six years for his latest botched jobs described Slocombe as a “persistent rogue builder” whose work was so poor that some homes were “virtually destroyed”.
He repeatedly convinced customers that work was needed when it wasn’t, escalated costs without justification and then abandoned jobs halfway through – leaving families with huge repair bills.
Slocombe’s criminal record stretches back to 2015 when he was jailed for 43 months for botched building offences.
He was then jailed in 2023 for five years and five months for other crimes – but had already targeted more people while on bail.
Slocombe used the false name “Lee Lewis” to hide his long history of dishonesty.
He was also handed a lifetime Criminal Behaviour Order banning him from carrying out any building, maintenance or gardening work in the UK, and disqualified from being a company director until 2031.
| Slocombe was also handed a lifetime Criminal Behaviour Order. Photos via WNS.
Regulators hope the lifetime ban will finally stop him.
Slocombe, formerly of Swansea, carried out dangerous and often pointless building work at properties in Cardiff, Bridgend and Swansea.
He defrauded nine victims of more than £400,000. When the cost of repairing the damage he caused was added, the total loss to homeowners was calculated at at least £547,000.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of participating in a fraudulent business – one personally, and one through his company, LSP Developments.
In two cases, he even brought in a fake, unqualified gas engineer. One property was left leaking carbon monoxide where a 10-month-old baby lived.
Some victims were forced to take out loans, overdrafts or raid their pension pots to put their homes right. Several were elderly or vulnerable.
Jailing him for six years for his latest convictions Judge Christopher Felstead described Slocombe as a persistent rogue builder who operated dishonestly.
After Slocombe was jailed Cllr Norma Mackie of Cardiff council said: “Lee Slocombe caused immense misery to his victims, carrying out sub-standard work and leaving some properties in such a state of disrepair that they were open to the elements, not watertight and simply dangerous.
“The stress he caused is unimaginable and he deserves to be sent directly back to prison. I would like to thank all the staff who enabled us to bring this case to court. Hopefully, this outcome provides some closure for the victims, knowing that he is where he belongs – back behind bars.”
In 2023, he was jailed for five years and five months after defrauding seven Swansea families of more than £147,000 through his previous company, Kamlee Builders.
Swansea Crown Court heard he destroyed homes, drained life savings and left properties in such a state that some were “a complete mess”.
One Swansea family paid more than £78,000 for work and repairs after going into “financial meltdown”. Another couple were charged £18,000 for a job a surveyor said should have cost less than £600 and taken an hour.
Swansea Council’s Trading Standards team began investigating him in 2018 after a complaint about damp work in Morriston that ballooned from a £1,000 quote to a £60,000 bill.
Cllr David Hopkins, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, said at the time:
“The details of this case show an extremely disturbing level of dishonesty and appalling treatment towards families in Swansea.”
Cardiff Council said the latest sentence should give victims “some closure”, while Swansea Council previously praised its Trading Standards team for ensuring “no other families will suffer at the hands of this rogue builder”.
Report and images via WALES NEWS SERVICE (WNS).
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