Shelley and Barry Sawkins handed over roughly £30,000 to Christian Williams for an extension. The roof leaked. Water poured in.
They then paid another £50,000 to fix what he left behind. Almost £30,000 more than the original £21,000 quote.
About £20,000 of that went to other builders who had to undo the damage. Williams spent his victims’ money on Lanzarote. He posted photos of holidays and days at the races on Facebook.
Shelley Sawkins, 75, called him while he was supposed to be working on her bungalow. She realised he was in Lanzarote, spending money she had given him.
The couple’s savings are gone. The building work took “every penny” they had, they said. They are not alone.
Williams admitted theft and three counts of fraud by false representation involving four families. A father of three had to finish his own two-storey extension himself. Mold Crown Court held a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing earlier this month.
Williams benefitted to the sum of £163,051.70 from his offending. His assets meant he could only pay back £1.
One pound. That is the total the victims will recover from the man who took their money for holidays and left their homes open to the weather. Williams, 54, trading as Chris Williams Construction, is currently serving a two-year prison sentence.
The Sawkins are left with a repaired roof and a hole in their finances that may never be filled. The court acknowledged the scale of his gain.
The enforcement reality is a token payment. For the Sawkins, the repair bill — £50,000 — tells the story. That is more than double the original quote for the work that was never finished.
They paid a second time for a job they had already paid for once. The first builder took their money to Spain. The second builders took their money to fix the roof.
What happens next for families caught by builders who take deposits and vanish, or take full payment and leave a leaking shell? The criminal justice system can send a man to prison.
It can calculate his benefit from crime at more than £163,000. It cannot make him pay it back if he has no assets. The gap between the court order and the bank balance is the real story for the victims.
Shelley Sawkins called the tradesman while he was supposed to be working on her bungalow. She heard the background noise of an airport, or a bar, or a resort.
She knew then what had happened to her money. The technical reality is that they paid roughly £30,000 for an extension that was never finished. The practical reality is that they lost their savings and then had to find another £50,000 to stop the rain coming in.
Williams posted photos of his Lanzarote trip on Facebook. His victims saw them. The court saw them.
The pattern of fraud left multiple families financially devastated while he enjoyed the sun. The gap between what a rogue builder promises and what he delivers can be measured in both pounds and trust.
For the Sawkins, the measurement is £50,000 in repair costs and a pension fund that no longer exists.
