Teesside rogue trader who put customers through 'sheer hell' jailed

Christopher Newman's botched work left families' lives ruined, the court heard

A rogue trader charged customers more than £500,000 for shoddy building work, putting them through "sheer hell" as some lost their life savings.

Renovations carried out by Christopher Newman were inadequate and beset by delays, Teesside Crown Court was told.

The 41-year-old, who operated as Hartburn Lofts and Extensions, admitted four charges of fraud and 10 of breaching unfair trading regulations.

He has been jailed for four years and eight months.

Customers across Teesside, County Durham, Wearside and Yorkshire told of "unforgivable" upset with some worried they would lose their homes as Newman fobbed them off.

Prosecutor John Crawford said Newman was paid a total of almost £525,000 for a range of home improvements with faults found in roofs, drains, plumbing, electrics and many other areas.

'Lies and excuses'

Newman, the court heard, pressured victims to make large down-payments, followed by "constant delays, lies and excuses" as work dragged on far beyond promised timescales between 2017 and 2019.

His actions, Mr Crawford added, saw "family lives ruined and put on hold for significant periods of time".

Newman, of no fixed address, carried on offending after being contacted by trading standards officers and the case was held up for several years as he failed to attend court.

He was arrested last year and had been remanded in custody since January.

Faults emerged in all areas of Newman's work including with brickwork, roofing and scaffolding

In a letter to the court, Newman said he was "sorry for the pain and hurt" he had caused and apologised for having "let everything go so badly wrong".

Chris Morrison, defending, said Newman was not manipulative or motivated by "naked and cynical greed" but a family man who made poor decisions and embarked on a "flurry of activity" trying to work his way out of trouble.

He said Newman had built up a successful business through recommendations but lost control with bereavements and difficulties with suppliers, finances and a county court case.

'Chasing his tail'

He said he had taken on too much trying to "salvage the unsalvageable" and "behaved in an exceedingly wrong manner, chasing his tail".

Judge Paul Watson KC, Recorder of Middlesbrough, said he accepted Newman's business had started out as a bona fide before "over-trading".

He added: "In each case you were lying, deceiving or at the very least misselling the capacity of your company to deliver on contracts."

Newman was also banned from working as a company director for five years during the sentencing on Friday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.