Crooked builder conned disabled Bulwell woman out ‘king’s ransom’ for work he never started

Paul Ruddy quoted his first victim £9,999 fto build a shower room and toilet after claiming to be a reputable tradesman on Mybuilder.com, in March 2021.

Matthew Hayes, prosecuting, said the woman, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, struggles to get upstairs and used money her late father had saved from a lifetime of hard work.

Ruddy, now aged 41, first claimed he had Covid-19, in June, and then said he had broken his arm in a scaffolding accident, in July.

He reassured her she would be reimbursed but “that was all lies” and he still owes her £3,333, said Mr Hayes.

In a statement she said: “Ruddy didn’t care. He was calculating how to get hold of my money. I feel as if I have let my dad down by allowing his hard-earned money to be stolen.”

Ruddy quoted a second woman in Aspley £19,500 for a small extension and received a £4,875 deposit, in June 2021.

Again, no work was started, and two months later he said he had stopped trading and promised to refund her. He offered to build her a log cabin for the inconvenience and she bought one for £3,500, but he abandoned it after a day’s work.

Again he made “countless excuses” and by March 2022 the money was still unpaid.

“I have great anxiety as I have no savings," she said in a statement. “I am embarrassed my children have had to go without. I have lost trust in others.”

Nottingham Crown Court heard he received a six-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to pay back £5,000, for a similar fraud in 2018.

Ruddy, of Reydon Drive, Nottingham, admitted two counts of fraud by false representation, at Nottingham Magistrates Court, on October 13.

Caroline Bradley, mitigating, said he is “extremely apologetic” but “incapable of running a business.”

“He wasn’t leading a jet-set lifestyle,” she said. “But he is hugely in debt and was robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Jailing him for 12 months on Thursday, Judge John Sampson said: “These are nasty, heartless and thoroughly-dishonest offences. The money you took from your victims was a king's ransom.”