A cowboy builder who fleeced homeowners out of £700,000 and abandoned many of their properties half-finished, leaving some with water pouring through their cracked ceilings, has been jailed.
Patrick Damien Hartley, 52, was described as 'one of the most prolific and heartless' fraudsters that Lancashire County Council had ever come across.
He cheated a total of 13 households across the North West out of nearly £700,000, with many having to pay thousands more to finish incomplete work.
One shocking clip shared by a homeowner shows rain pounding on to her kitchen table, while others show extensions barely complete with rubbish and debris left strewn across the floor.
In photos taken by victims, their homes are seen left on stilts as huge areas of scaffolding remain in tact next to windowless walls.
The local council first prosecuted Hartley after being contacted by homeowners in September 2022.
An investigation found he had repeatedly failed to carry out work costing thousands and, earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to fraud and consumer protection offences between 2020 and 2023.
Patrick Damien Hartley, 52, left homeowners thousands of pounds out of pocket after refusing to finish construction works
Video footage showed how the cowboy builder left cracks in his victims' ceilings
In other cases he left extensions totally unfinished. Some homeowners were forced to spend as much as £89,000 rectifying Hartley's botched jobs
Phillippa Edgar, 48, handed Hartley almost £100,000 over eight months to build her a single-storey rear and double-storey side garage extension in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
The mother-of-two initially agreed a deal with Hartley of around £105,000, with construction expected to last ten weeks.
But the renovation was never completed, leaving Ms Edgar with no choice but to spend as much as £89,000 on remedial works, including to make the building safe and in line with regulations.
She fumed: 'This was supposed to be our dream home - but it became far from it.
'The situation was extremely stressful and extremely upsetting; it strained everything from my children's school lives to my marriage.
'Hartley is a conman who knew what he was doing - lie after lie was told about why work wasn't complete.
'He then just left the extensions as two brick shells - and stole our hard-earned money.
'He left our roof open to the rain, which flooded into our house to the point we set up a pump to suck as much out as possible.
'Hartley is a horrid man who deserves to rot in prison.'
Another victim was Joanne Dagostina, 42, who in November 2021 was provided a quote of £34,800 for an extension and fitted kitchen at her semi-detached three-bed home in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
Work started in January 2022 but further jobs were later agreed, including the installation of a damp proof course to the existing property and a new bathroom.
But by August 2022 Ms Dagostina decided to get rid of Hartley, having already paid him £64,216.
A fan fitting at one of the homes which Hartley was hired to work on
Poorly attached tarpaulin on the roof of a home in Lancashire which the cowboy builder worked on
Hartley left Phillippa Edgar's house in a state of ruin after he was handed almost £100,000 to build a garage extension
Tarpaulin is seen over Ms Edgar's home, leaving the roof open to rain and the home's interior susceptible to flooding
It was only after a structural engineer came to the house that she found out he hadn't installed any steel beams. It meant the woman's roof could collapse 'at any moment'.
Ms Dagostina said: 'The blatant lack of care and disrespect to put my family in danger is unforgivable.
'The engineer told me the extension ceiling was failing by 200 per cent and to prop it as soon as possible.
'He said it would collapse if we didn't and if it did it would take the next-door neighbours with it - I was furious.
'I am disappointed with his sentencing as to me it was premeditated and he knew how to take advantage.'
Pelin Akin, 49, and Wellington Tsang, 55, also fell victim to Hartley, losing over £105,000 in the process.
They approached him for a loft conversion with a dormer window as well as a driveway at their three-bed house in Sale, Greater Manchester.
Hartley quoted £48,000 with the work starting in April 2021 and told Ms Akin the renovations would take eight weeks to complete.
But by June the Senior Travel Consultant said construction had 'slowed down' before Hartley left the site in early 2022 with no roof and an empty attic.
The family have since had the building work completed by a reputable trader at a cost of £59,000.
Approximately £8,000 of that expense was used to correct Hartley's work and bring it into compliance with building control requirements.
She said: 'The excuses he gave for the work not being completed were ridiculous - they included his workers being drunk and his van needing its MOT.
'Hartley started with being very accommodating.
'But when we started challenging him for why he wasn't on the site his messages became more threatening.
'My work suffered, I was signed off with stress. I added lots of cameras and security to our home just in case he or his representatives decided to visit us.
Joanne Dagostina's kitchen in Oldham, Greater Manchester, is seen in a state of disrepair
Ms Dagostina eventually decided to get rid of Hartley having already paid him £64,216
'I am starting to relax knowing that he is behind bars.'
More victims included a couple in Bacup, Lancashire, who were left devastated when their plans to take in an elderly relative and provide her with end-of-life care went wrong when Hartley failed to complete an extension for her.
The homeowner's mother spent her final days in the front room of the property, which had no heating or hot water.
The Lancashire Trading Standards investigation into Hartley was assisted by officers from other local authorities, GMP and Lancashire Constabulary.
He was charged with criminal offences involving 13 different households in Lancashire and Greater Manchester in 2023.
In March 2024, he formally entered not guilty pleas to 26 offences under the Fraud Act 2006 and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and his case was listed for trial in June 2025.
In May 2025, he pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006 and three counts under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
Alongside his prison sentence, Hartley was given a seven-year criminal behaviour order stopping him from owning a business which takes part in private building work.
His case is currently the subject of confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, according to the Trading Standards.
Councillor Joshua Roberts, cabinet member for Rural Affairs, Environment and Communities, described Hartley as 'one of the most prolific and heartless fraudsters' that the council has come across.