A ROGUE trader whose poor workmanship left customers more than £10,000 out of pocket has been handed a 20-month suspended prison sentence.
David Taylor, of DT Property Maintenance and Electrical Contractors, left homes unfit for human habitation and at risk of fire and flood due to dangerous electrical rewiring.
The 50-year-old, in Brabazon Road, Cranford, was found guilty at Isleworth Crown Court in November last year of two counts of fraud by abuse of position.
He had previously admitted 12 counts under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 at Snaresbrook Crown Court in June 2013.
At Isleworth Crown Court on January 10, he was given a 12 month prison sentence for the fraud and eight months for the trading standards offences, both of which were suspended, meaning he will serve that time behind bars if he reoffends in the next two years.
Taylor was taken to court by Trading Standards at Hackney Council after his dodgy work left customers having to shell out more than £10,000 to put it right on top of what they had already paid him. The case of fraud against his employer was brought separately by the Metropolitan Police.
Taylor will be supervised for two years and will be tagged and under curfew for the next six months. He was also ordered to carry out 15 days of unpaid work.
Sentencing him, Judge Andrew McDowall said he would like to make an award for costs to Taylor's unfortunate clients but was not in a position to do so. "There appears to be little chance of them getting their money," he added.
