A builder who conned a pensioner living in the south of Edinburgh out of £30,000 and left her new home like “a death trap” has been ordered to pay all the stolen cash back – and he will have to wear a tag for 10 months.
Aaron Cummings left the 70-year-old woman’s property in a state of near collapse and with live wiring exposed as he carried out the renovations between 2019 and 2021.
The builder, 46, also allowed poisonous fumes to leak from a boiler and the homeowner was forced to live with boarded up doors and windows, ultimately leading to an infestation of rats.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the tradesman was paid more than £80,000 by the pensioner to carry out the work on her home and build an extension on the side of the house.
The court heard Cummings, of Loanhead, Midlothian, had repeatedly failed to complete the work to a satisfactory standard and the homeowner was eventually forced to report him to the police.
Cummings pled guilty to an amended charge of fraudulently obtaining £30,000 from a customer when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month and was back in the dock for sentencing on Tuesday.
Prosecutors previously agreed to reduce the total sum from £82,600 after it was proved Cummings had carried out around 70 per cent of the work he had been employed to carry out.
Solicitor advocate, Kris Gilmartin, told the court his client had £8,000 cash to hand over within 48 hours and could afford to pay a further £1,500 per month back to the elderly victim.
Mr Gilmartin said Cummings is currently working as a landscaper and he had previously worked for the woman on another property without any problems.
The lawyer added: “At the time of the offence Mr Cummings had other contracts and family commitments and he arranged to sub-contract much of the work to to others.
“But to make it clear, he was the project manager and accepts full responsibility and the buck stops with him.”
Sheriff Douglas Keir told the building boss he had made the woman’s “life an absolute misery through your actions” but was persuaded to step back from imposing custody.
Cummings was sentenced to a direct alternative to custody where he will be placed on an 18 month supervision order and will have to complete 225 hours of unpaid work.
The builder will also be tagged and have to stay within his home between 8pm and 6am for 10 months.
The sheriff imposed a £30,000 compensation requirement where Cummings will have to pay £8000 within the next 48 hours and £1500 per month thereafter.
Previously fiscal depute, Cheryl Porter, told the court the customer was aged 70 at the time and had bought the property in the south of the city after downsizing from her original family home.
Ms Porter said a quote of £65,000 was initially agreed and the woman paid a deposit of £8000 to the tradesman in 2019.
The court heard over the following months Cummings had left property with live electrical wiring exposed and fumes from the boiler were said to have been leaking into the extension.
A subsequent inspection by a second tradesman found the roof of the home had “a potential for collapse” that could have led to a fatality.
The property suffered “a rat infestation” due to the lack of doors and windows and a third tradesman had described the house as “a death trap after death trap”.
Eventually a family friend took over the running of the construction project and they posted an appeal on the business and employment website LinkedIn for local tradesman to step in.
The court heard several businesses in the area answered the call for help and had agreed to carry out the necessary repairs on the house free of charge.
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