Staffordshire rogue traders 'spent £144K on holidays and gambling'

Richard Blundred and Robert Johnson spent their victims' money on holidays and gambling

Rogue traders who left vulnerable customers out of pocket after failing to complete building work on their homes have been jailed.

Robert Johnson and Richard Blundred, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, would request money for building work upfront and leave it unfinished.

Their victims, including a paramedic and ex-serviceman, were left "financially broken", a court heard.

The pair, along with two others, were jailed over the fraud.

The men demanded money upfront and then left work unfinished

Johnson, 33, of Denbigh Close, was jailed for three years and seven months while Blundred, also 33, of Bedford Crescent, was jailed for three years and six months, after they both pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading.

They ran JB Home Improvements Ltd and were found to have spent £114,000 from eight customers on holidays, gambling and weddings, fraudulent trading, Stafford Crown Court heard.

Ronald Johnson and Kristoffer Henshall were also jailed for their involvement

Johnson's father, 67-year-old Ronald Johnson, also of Denbigh Close, admitted he was involved in misleading customers and was jailed for 14 months for telling repeated lies and threatening to knock down a partially built wall unless a £4,500 payment was made, the court was told.

Another man, 33-year-old Kristoffer Henshall, of Melville Court, was also jailed for 15-months after admitting fraudulent trading and misleading customers.

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Judge Jonathon Salmon accepted the men started some of the work intending to finish it but said it "rapidly turned to dishonest intentions to fob customers off to abandon the contract".

"This was dishonest behaviour over a sustained period of time," he added.

The case was brought by Staffordshire County Council who described the men as "truly wicked" and "preying on the most vulnerable in our communities".