A fraudulent joiner who duped nearly 70 customers out of over £100,000 in a sham garden shed and summerhouse scheme has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.
Alistair Baxter, 36, orchestrated the scam through his Falkirk-based firm, AB Garden Building Ltd, extracting hefty deposits from clients across Dunbartonshire, Stirlingshire, Glasgow, and Aberdeen between September 2020 and March 2024.
Despite assurances of crafting custom garden structures, the rogue trader failed to fulfil any of the contracts. Some victims, including elderly individuals in their 70s, were left thousands of pounds out of pocket with nothing to show for it.
Baxter promoted his business on social media, enticing potential customers with images of garden buildings that were never built.
After admitting to fraud at Stirling Sheriff Court, Baxter was handed a jail term of three years and four months, reports the Daily Record.
Among those swindled was a 68 year old woman who parted with a £4,150 deposit in June 2022 after being quoted £5,900. Later in September, she was coerced into paying the remaining balance of £1,800 before any work had commenced.
She complied, only to find no construction ever took place and no refund was provided.
In another instance, a 74 year old woman paid a £1,250 deposit for a summerhouse in September 2023. The project never got off the ground, and Baxter falsely asserted that the money had been reimbursed.
In some cases, materials were delivered to properties, but no subsequent building work ever ensued.
Helen Nisbet, Procurator Fiscal for Tayside, Central and Fife, expressed her disdain at the conduct of Alistair Baxter, stating: “This was a clear case of deception and an egregious breach of trust by Alistair Baxter.
“He took significant sums of cash from people who paid him to do work and then brazenly refused to do the work or return their deposits. It was an appalling course of behaviour and he has now been held to account for his crimes.”