Yahoo News Cowboy builder who destroyed disabled girl's home after charging family £75,000 is jailed
Lee Millard, 37, left the family in debt following his botched work at their home in Stourbridge.
A cowboy builder who destroyed a disabled girl's home after bullying her parents into paying him £75,000 has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Lee Millard, 37, left Aftab and Shazia Alimahomed in debt and their house like a building site following the botched work at their property in Stourbridge, West Midlands, in 2019.
The girl, who was disabled and incontinent, died last year after being forced to spend the final months of her life not being able to be cleaned properly.
Mr and Mrs Alimahomed said their daughter had spent her last months without her "privacy and dignity" at a time they "should have been making memories."
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Pictures show the severity of the damage the rogue builder caused with the washroom for the disabled girl left wrecked.
Millard had given the family a quote and said he would not charge anything on top for the extension they needed for their wheelchair-bound daughter, the court heard.
They were hoping for a new kitchen, downstairs bedroom and wet room installed, as well as a new ramp and patio area to give their daughter access to the garden.
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But the couple were forced to fork out an extra £30,000 after Millard "destroyed" the property - leaving it with holes in the roof where rainwater flooded in.
Workers also cut through cables, bricks fell in and cement was strewn across the house.
Millard later cut off all contact with the family and stopped replying to messages after they refused demands to make further payments.
The court heard the couple remortgaged their home and borrowed cash from family and friends for the extension.
Millard, of Bilston, West Midlands, was jailed for three and a half years after admitting fraud at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Wednesday.
In a victim impact statement, Mrs Alimahomed said: “It is impossible to put into words how this affected my family and beloved daughter.
"The last 18 months of her life when we should have been making memories, instead we were living in a dangerous building site and she lost her privacy and dignity."
Christopher King, head of trading standards at Dudley Council, added: "We welcome the decision of the court to impose a lengthy jail term .
"This is a very serious case of rogue trading against a family who needed and deserved far better.”
A further hearing will be held in October to decide on exact costs and compensation.
