We’re victims of ‘Britain’s most brazen cowboy builder’ – shock pics, threatening video and his £1m swindle laid bare

PHILLIPPA Edgar always dreamed of having the perfect family home. But for the mum-of-two, her dream quickly turned into a living nightmare when she employed cowboy builder Patrick “Paddy” Hartley. Patrick Hartley is one of the country’s worst cowboy builders and ruined the lives of families across the north west Credit: SWNS Joanne Dagostina had her home turned into a death trap Credit: SWNS Phillippa, a quantity surveyor, pictured lazy Sunday mornings with her husband and kids in a new gleaming, open plan, glass-fronted kitchen. She and her partner had poured their hard-earned savings into turning their four bedroom detached property into a forever-home. Cruel Hartley didn’t just steal £185,000 of Phillippa’s hard-earned cash – he left her beloved house in a complete mess, open to the elements, and turned her family’s life upside down. Hartley, 52, traded on fake smiles and grand promises to con 13 households across the North West out of more than £1million. While his victims were left with structurally dangerous shells, flooding, open ceilings, and crippling debts, rogue builder Hartley took their money and sneered in their faces when confronted. Now, as the serial fraudster begins a prison sentence, The Sun exposes the devastating wake of destruction left by one of Britain’s most prolific rogue traders. For 48-year-old Phillippa, whose home is in Poynton, Stockport, the nightmare began in April 2020. Wanting to create space for her growing family, she hired Hartley for a single-storey rear and double-storey side extension to enlarge the garage of her four-bed detached property. Hartley shook her hand, flashed a warm smile, and promised the build would take just 10 weeks, slapping a £105,000 price tag on the project. Trusting the slick operator, Phillippa handed over a staggering £95,000 in instalments over eight months. But as the weeks dragged into months, her vision of a luxury dream space collapsed into an absolute horror show. Rather than a stunning showcase home, Hartley left her property as two unfinished, roofless brick shells. When heavy rain hit Greater Manchester, water cascaded straight into the family’s living space. In desperate scenes, Phillippa had to rig up an industrial pump inside her own house just to suck out rainwater pooling in the rooms. “This was supposed to be our dream home – but it became far from it,” a devastated Phillippa recalled. “Hartley is a conman who knew what he was doing. Lie after lie was told about why work wasn’t complete. Phillippa’s house was left with water pouring in Credit: SWNS Victims were left with their homes unfinished and on the verge of collapose Credit: SWNS “He then just left the extensions as two brick shells and stole our hard-earned money. “He left our roof open to the rain, which flooded into our house to the point we set up a pump. “The situation was extremely stressful and extremely upsetting. It strained everything from my children’s school lives to my marriage. Hartley is a horrid man who deserves to rot in prison.” To make matters worse, Phillippa was forced to fork out another £89,000 from her own pocket just to hire reputable builders to fix Hartley’s shoddy, dangerous work and make the building structurally safe. Her grand total loss soared to a jaw-dropping £185,000 – tearing her dream home to absolute ribbons. Phillippa was far from Hartley’s only victim. Across the region, the heartless builder operated a systematic scam – overcharging by tens of thousands of pounds up front, abandoning jobs, and declaring himself bankrupt to dodge accountability. Shocking video footage captured the terrifying moment a disgruntled customer confronted Hartley over his botched work, only for the angry cowboy to aggressively square up to them and raise his arms to fight. Footage shows the moment one customer confronted Hartley, at which point he became aggresive Credit: SWNS Joanne Dagostina had hired Hartley to build an extension Credit: SWNS Photos and video taken by distraught homeowners paint a grim picture of his trail of destruction. One house was left propped up on temporary metal stilts with scaffolding swaying next to windowless, knocked-down walls. Other footage showed ceilings collapsing under the weight of trapped rainwater because temporary roofs were never fastened down properly. And homeowners also filmed piles of building materials scattered like rubbish across incomplete, abandoned construction pads. Another victim, Joanne Dagostina, 42, hired Hartley in November 2021 for a £34,800 extension and kitchen overhaul at her home in Failsworth, Oldham. Over seven months, Hartley extracted £64,216 from her for extra jobs, including a damp-proof course and a new bathroom. When Joanne finally sacked the rogue trader in August 2022, a shocked structural engineer revealed the house was a death trap. Hartley had failed to install crucial steel support beams, leaving the ceiling failing and on the verge of collapsing “at any moment” – threatening to pull her next-door neighbour’s house down with it. But he left her house on the verge of collapse Credit: SWNS The extension had to be dug up to fit steel beams Credit: SWNS “The blatant lack of care and disrespect to put my family in danger is unforgivable,” Joanne fumed. She had to fork out another £14,000 to tear up her new kitchen and install the proper steel beams. “The engineer told me the extension ceiling was failing by 200 per cent and had to be propped up as soon as possible. “He said it would collapse if we didn’t and if it did it would take the next-door neighbours with it – I was furious. “I am disappointed with his sentencing as to me it was premeditated and he knew how to take advantage. In Sale, Trafford, 49-year-old Pelin Akin and her partner Wellington Tsang, 55, handed Hartley £47,500 for a loft conversion and new driveway. Promised an eight-week turnaround, they were left with no roof and an empty attic for months. When challenged, Hartley offered a string of pathetic excuses – blaming his workers for being “drunk” or claiming his van needed an MOT. Pelin Akin and Wellington Tsang handed Hartley £47,500 for a loft conversion and new driveway Credit: SWNS They were left with no roof for months Credit: SWNS When Pelin pushed harder, Hartley’s charming persona vanished, replaced by threatening text messages. “My work suffered, I was signed off with stress,” Pelin revealed. “I added lots of cameras and security to our home just in case he or his representatives decided to visit us.” The couple had to pay an extra £59,000 to professional builders just to rebuild the roof and fix Hartley’s structural blunders. Approximately £8,000 of this cost has been to correct Hartley’s work to bring it into compliance with building control requirements. Perhaps most heartbreaking of all was a family in Bacup, Lancashire, who hired Hartley to build an extension for an elderly relative needing end-of-life care. Because Hartley abandoned the job, the dying woman was forced to spend her final days in a cold front room with no heating or hot water. Hartley’s reign of terror finally unraveled when Lancashire County Council’s Trading Standards launched a massive investigation alongside Greater Manchester Police in September 2022. Investigators uncovered a staggering trail of deceit involving 13 different households. Piles of dirt and rubbish were left in their house Credit: SWNS They had to spend thousands to fix his blunders Credit: SWNS Facing a mountain of evidence, Hartley eventually buckled at Preston Crown Court, pleading guilty to a string of fraud and consumer protection offences between 2020 and 2023. . On August 28 a judge sentenced Hartley to three years and nine months behind bars and slapped him with a seven-year Criminal Behaviour Order, banning him from running any private building business. Judge Jeffries KC said: “It is hardly surprising that the emotional drain on these families is as crippling as the financial one. It must have been obvious to you the real harm that has been caused.” Victim statements spoke of how families suffered depression and struggled to bring up babies and children with special needs in homes without adequate roofing. Some took refuge in other peoples’ homes causing families to live apart. Courts are now launching confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act to strip Hartley of any remaining assets. Councillor Joshua Roberts, cabinet member for Rural Affairs, Environment and Communities, slammed Hartley as “one of the most prolific and heartless fraudsters” the council had ever prosecuted. He said: “He deliberately preyed on consumers at some of their most vulnerable moments – especially for the victims that he cherry-picked in Bacup and Rawtenstall. “He showed them no mercy and left them tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket. For the couple in Bacup, he cost them the chance to make a much-loved family member’s last few months easier. His behaviour was despicable.” For Phillippa Edgar and the dozens of families whose lives he shattered, the sentence feels like small comfort. Her dream home may finally be standing, but the psychological and financial scars left by Hartley will take a lifetime to heal.