Lurgan Rogue trader sentenced for botched jobs that cost victims £92,000

A ‘rogue trader’ whose shoddy work left customers thousands of pounds out of pocket walked free from court today (Thursday) with a combination order.

Benjamin McCaughley, 35, of Springhill Road, Lurgan, Co Armagh, pleaded guilty to a total of 20 charges under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

He pleaded guilty to engaging in misleading commercial practice and recklessly engaging in misleading commercial practice on properties between January 2020 and December 2022 through his companies Regional Contractors and Complete Home improvements.

Belfast Crown Court heard that McCaughley “went around the countryside telling people things which were quite untrue, obtaining money from them, including a number who were vulnerable, and as a result have lost money because of his activities”.

Following an extensive investigation by Trading Standard Service, it was discovered McCaughley took a total of £92,000 from nine victims for work to be completed at their properties, including roofing, cladding, driveway repairs, gardening and landscaping.

It was the prosecution case that in all nine cases the victims were left with either unfinished work or with work that was carried out to an extremely poor standard. In seven of the nine cases, McCaughley told victims that his work came “guaranteed, in some cases for 10 years”.

The prosecution case was that when his victims encountered problems with the work and approached him to rectify matters he “repeatedly ignored them and that the promise of a guarantee was entirely false”.

Some of the victims also tried to obtain redress by sending letters to the addresses quoted in Mr McCaughley’s flyers or invoices but received no responses. Investigations by the Trading Standard Service found that these related to the addresses of virtual offices which Mr McCaughley had no authority to use.

Defence barrister Michael Ward told the court McCaughley was declared bankrupt in October 2023 and is currently still subject to bankruptcy.

“That bankruptcy remains in place until at least October of this year. The position around his finances are uncertain. The defendant is working on an ad hoc basis as a landscaper which is occasional work and he earns £400-£600 per week when he does work,” said Mr Ward.

“But if the court felt some sort of compensation was still required because of what he does earn he will make all reasonable endeavours to do so.”

Last year, McCaughley was handed an 18-month prison sentence suspended for three years for similar offences with a judge telling him: “You are like the foundations of the building work you carried out, a man of straw.”

During the plea and sentencing hearing on Thursday, Judge Gordon Kerr KC said that given the large amount of money “people have lost due to the defendant’s criminal activity, it is unlikely he would be able to make any meaningful compensation whatsoever”.

The judge said that as McCaughley was currently the subject of a suspended sentence, he would deal with the defendant by way of a combination order made up of 100 hours community service and two years on probation.

Judge Kerr warned the cowboy builder: “I want you to realise that if you don’t do what you are told by the Probation Service you will be brought back to court and re-sentenced.”

The court also disqualified McCaughley from being a company director for a period of five years.

Following sentencing, Alison Gilchrist of the Trading Standards Service said: “This is a serious example of a rogue trader failing to complete agreed work, carrying out substandard work and providing his victims with false information relating to his trading details.

“Mr McCaughley received a total of £92,000 from the nine complainants covered by these cases and every single one had grounds for complaint. Many of the victims have been left in need of further expenditure for repair work.”

She added: “Rogue traders cause a huge amount of upset and stress to their victims who have worked hard and saved to pay for what they think will be improvements to their home.

“At a time of rising prices and increased cost of living it is hugely important for consumers to have confidence in local tradespeople and to expect good quality, professional services.

“TSS will continue to seek to protect consumers in NI by raising awareness of the activities of rogue traders, supporting consumers when targeted by rogue traders and investigating these traders to ensure that appropriate action is taken against them.”

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