Fraudster tradesman Stephen Stewart given suspended sentence

Stephen Stewart outside Antrim Court

A tradesman who showed "callous disregard" to dozens of victims who he defrauded by taking money and doing shoddy or unfinished work has been given a suspended sentence.

Stephen Stewart, 49, defrauded 59 people, many of which were vulnerable and elderly, out of £58,990.

Police said he took advantage of vulnerable victims and canvassed for work in a "pressurised" way.

He was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for three years on Thursday.

The judge said Stewart had already spent the equivalent of 30 months on remand.

Despite there being "no prospect" of any of the victims getting their money back, she said she hoped the case coming to a close "is some comfort to the many elderly and vulnerable people who helped bring this man to justice".

Stewart, originally from Larne but with a bail address at a hostel on the Saintfield Road in Belfast, admitted 55 offences under trading standards legislation.

The offences were committed between 1 February 2019 and 13 July 2021.

The court heard that he left vulnerable pensioners feeling "annoyed, hurt, angry, embarrassed, upset and manipulated," when he "hoodwinked" them.

The prosecution said victims had paid between £80 to £3,500 for work which was either not done, never completed or not done properly.

Trading under the name NI Home Improvement and formally SS Services, Stewart's method of business was to "cold call" at homes offering services.

Once prices had been discussed and agreed, he would ask for a deposit or for full payment upfront for a discounted price.

'I was touting for work'

In January 2021 a householder in Newtownbreda reported how a workman had called at the house offering to replace a pipe for £500.

The workman said "he would do it for £500 cash" and asked the victim to write him a cheque for £300 and withdraw the rest.

The next day he claimed the £300 cheque had gone through the washing machine and asked them to write another or give him the cash.

Police found the cheque during a search of his home.

"It was definitely me at the door, 100 million percent. I was touting for work," said Stewart.

In May 2022 a 66-year-old who had paid Stewart £1,400 for work but did not see him again and could not reach him contacted police.

They got more complaints after the initial charges were reported in local newspapers.

Some paid for work which never started, other victims had jobs partially completed or the jobs were finished but not to a "satisfactory standard".

When they asked for refunds, Stewart failed to refund them.

'Frustrated, embarrassed, devastated'

The prosecution's case was that the offences were aggravated given the number of victims; their age, with three of them having since died; the breach of trust; and the "prospect of having to give evidence at trial was particularly onerous on the victims given their ages and vulnerabilities".

She said some victims had described feeling embarrassed, devastated and manipulated.

She conceded that Stewart's guilty pleas were a mitigating feature.

The defence barrister told the court that, according to Stewart, very little of the cash he was paid ended to in his pocket as most if it was used to pay his staff and buy materials for the ordered jobs.

He said that rather than a case of fraud, it was one where Stewart "was always on the back foot".

"He should have simply stopped taking work on board and dealt with the backlog that has been created," he said.

Stewart instructed his lawyer to apologise to all of those who have been at a loss.

His lawyer said there was no prospect of restitution for the victims.

He added that Stewart wishes to re-establish himself but with a "substantial and important difference" of not taking money upfront.

'Significant risk of reoffending'

In sentencing the judge said "a high degree of harm has been experienced by many of the elderly and vulnerable people".

"This sort of activity also had enormous implications for the confidence of those people who had engaged him," she said.

She continued that she also considered Stewart to be at a "significant risk of reoffending".

She said that the sentence was "hanging over the head of the defendant to strengthen his resolve not to lapse into old ways and practices".

However she warned that if he reoffended, the 12 months custodial sentence could be activated in addition to any other sentence.

She also said that if he found himself back before a Crown Court "it is my stipulation that he is put before me".

Stewart has 94 previous convictions for theft, forgery, counterfeit, burglary and deception.

PSNI Det Insp Lenaghan said Stewart had chosen a "callous disregard for those he chose to defraud, knowing that they were vulnerable".