A Pembroke rogue builder has been ordered to pay over £3,000 in damages after failing to carry out work at a property in Milford Haven.

William Blair assured property owner Lisa Sandi that the re-rendering of her home and the insertion of ten air bricks would be completed in no more than two months at a cost of between £8,000 and £10,000.

Cavity wall insulation was removed by an independent company in preparation for Mr Blair to proceed with the work, and scaffolding was paid for by the property owner and erected at a cost of £2,500.

Work began in April 2022 and Lisa Sandi was assured that everything would be completed by the end of June. But Blair turned up on only seven occasions, totalling approximately 20 hours.

“He’d arrive at around 9.30am, leave by lunchtime and the days when he did appear were random,” said Lisa Sandi.

“I was working at home at the time, and on the rare occasions when I had to attend the office, my parents, who live approximately 50 metres away, were able to check regularly on the house.

“But by the time we got into August, I’d become increasingly concerned about the lack of contact as well as the lack of work that was being done, despite a substantial sum of money having been given to Mr Blair.”

Mr Blair requested a total of £1,500 from Ms Sandi on two separate occasions, both of which she paid.

“One of these included money he needed to buy materials, but this had jumped from £100 to £1,500 without explanation," she said.

When the materials arrived, their total cost amounted to £475.

“By now, I could see that we were heading into the autumn and yet the insulation had been removed and my hundred-year-old house was no longer waterproof. Scaffolding had been put up, which meant that my little boy, who was five at the time, was unable to have any of his friends round to play.”

In October of that year, Lisa began taking legal instructions on how to proceed and this week the matter reached the County Court in Haverfordwest.

Documentation was presented to the District Judge including a Whatsapp message from Will Blair which stated ‘Take me to court…I’m going to go bankrupt anyway.’

By now, Mr Blair had stopped answering calls from Ms Sandi as well as from her parents who were supporting her throughout this stressful time.

“The psychological impact it was having on me was intense,” continues Lisa.

“As a full-time working single parent, the financial repercussions have been significant. To get the house watertight again and completed prior to winter with my limited funds, I had to find a new builder who’s been fantastic and completed his work in just seven weeks.

"But I can honestly say that since buying the house on April 1, 2021, I’ve had two years of a total nightmare.”

Blair was this week ordered to pay a total of £3,801.32 by the County Court comprising £3,000 in damages to Lisa Sandi, a court fee of £205, a hearing fee of £346 and £250.33 interest.