Nigel Dinneen was sentenced to a year in jail after scamming people across the Midlands
Nigel Dinneen was jailed at Derby Crown Court(Image: Callum Hill)
A dodgy builder who swindled a Nuneaton family out of nearly £90,000 has been jailed. Nigel Dinneen illegally obtained more than £400,000 from five Midlands residents for home improvement projects.
Dinneen, 72, secured advance payments from victims while failing to disclose his July 2019 bankruptcy, a legal requirement for credit exceeding £500. His victims included a father whose children were forced to sleep on the floor and a healthcare worker who had been working through the challenges of COVID-19.
One of the victims said the builder was ‘very enthusiastic’ about the contract being signed and the deposit being paid in mid-2019. However, Dinneen failed to disclose his bankruptcy to the victim when he accepted advance payments.
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Work on the £40,000 extension stalled, and the issues escalated in the run-up to Christmas 2019. “We lost five years of being a family,” the victim recalled.
He continued: “Our children were sleeping on the floor between building materials. We were secured at the rear of the property with a tarpaulin to keep the elements and the cold out.
“We will be repaying the debt incurred to repair, rework and complete the building works until 2029. My family have missed out on evenings and weekends of activities and memories as we have been carrying out DIY to try to have a finished house.”
Across his five victims, Dinneen obtained credit totalling £414,594. His second victim signed a contract in December 2019, agreeing to pay him in advance for a two-storey extension to replace the garage.
Several issues arose as Dinneen completed the project at the property in Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire, with the victim having to deal with them while also working through COVID. His neighbours also complained about overflowing skips attracting rodents.
After facing issues and delays, the victim eventually sacked Dinneen, leaving the project unfinished. Between May 2019 and September 2020, Dinneen obtained nearly £90,000 in advance payments from his third victim for a two-storey extension in Nuneaton.
In August 2019, the fourth victim signed a contract with Dinneen for an extension and bathroom conversion at his home in Loughborough. Over £75,000 was paid, with no knowledge of the financial troubles Dinneen was facing.
His final victim made an advance payment of nearly £50,000 in December 2019 for a large rear extension at her bungalow in Market Bosworth. Dinneen also committed perjury by lying to bankruptcy investigators, with enquiries uncovering several undeclared bank accounts, including one where all his victims’ payments were deposited.
Dinneen, of Duesbury Court, Mickleover, appeared at Derby Crown Court on Thursday (January 15). He was sentenced to 12 months in jail.
David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Nigel Dinneen ruined peoples lives, taking their savings and leaving some of them in what can only be described as unliveable conditions.
“Dinneen showed a complete disregard for the law and for the victims who trusted him. We hope this prosecution provides some measure of justice for those who have suffered so greatly at his hands.
“Bankruptcy rules exist to protect the public, and the Insolvency Service will pursue criminal prosecution against those who break the law by obtaining credit while bankrupt.”
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