Shelley Sawkins, 75, picked up the phone and called Christian Williams while he was supposed to be working on her bungalow. He answered from Lanzarote. The money she had given him was paying for his holiday.
That phone call, described in evidence at Mold Crown Court, exposed a pattern that had already left four families financially wrecked. Williams, 54, trading as Chris Williams Construction, is now serving a two-year prison sentence.
He admitted theft and three counts of fraud by false representation. The Sawkins’ story starts with an extension quote: £21,000. They paid Williams roughly £30,000.
He never finished the work. Water poured into their home through the incomplete roof.
That was the first disaster. The second came when they tried to fix it. Shelley and her husband Barry, 63, spent another £50,000 repairing the botched job.
About £20,000 of that went to other builders who had to clean up the mess. The total repair bill alone — £50,000 — exceeded the original quote by nearly £30,000. The building work took “every penny” they had, the couple said.
Williams did not stop with the Sawkins. A father of three was forced to finish his own two-storey extension himself.
The court heard Williams had been posting photos on Facebook — holidays, days out at the races. Lanzarote featured. At a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing earlier this month, the court calculated Williams benefitted from his offending to the sum of £163,051.70.
That is the total he took from multiple victims. His assets meant he could only pay back £1.
The timeline runs like this. Williams took money for work he did not do. He spent it on travel and leisure.
He left roofs open to the elements. He left families paying twice — once to him, once to honest tradesmen who had to undo his damage. When the law caught up, the money was gone.
Mold Crown Court heard the evidence. The judge saw the Facebook photos.
The Sawkins saw their savings disappear into a builder’s holiday fund. For Shelley and Barry Sawkins, the arithmetic is brutal. They paid £30,000 for nothing.
They paid £50,000 to get what they originally wanted. The gap between what Williams promised and what he delivered cost them £80,000 total.
Williams is in prison. His victims are left with repaired roofs and empty bank accounts. The Proceeds of Crime Act order for £1 means the state will not recover the money either.
The case raises questions about how rogue builders operate. Williams traded under a company name. He posted online.
He took cash. He left town.
The pattern is old but the damage stays new for each family. Shelley Sawkins made that call from Buckley, Flintshire, on June 28. She heard the background noise of a Spanish holiday.
She understood in that moment what had happened to her money. The roof leaked.
The extension never came. The holidays were real.
