Judge jails 'complete conman' builder who took more than £63,000 from two women for extensions that were condemned

Published 3 November 2026, 15:08

• Rogue builder Jamie Martin, 35, admitted fraud after pocketing more than £38,000 from one woman in Anwick, Lincolnshire.
• Another customer wrote online that his 'terrible workmanship' cost £2,000 to have ripped out and redone.
• Neither woman has had a penny back, and Martin now faces three years and two months behind bars.

A builder who pocketed more than £63,000 from two women for house extensions he never finished has been jailed for three years and two months after a judge heard his work was condemned by building control surveyors.

Jamie Martin, 35, of no fixed abode, admitted two counts of fraud at Lincoln Crown Court on 29 October 2026 and was ordered to pay a £228 surcharge.

The offences took place between 2021 and 2022 in the Sleaford area of Lincolnshire, according to Lincolnshire Police.

One victim, from the village of Anwick near Sleaford, paid Martin more than £38,000.

A second customer in Sleaford handed over more than £25,000.

Both women believed he was spending the money on building materials and labour for house extensions.

Instead, Martin made repeated excuses, produced poor-quality work and never completed either job.

Inspectors from building control found the work at both addresses to be unacceptable, and neither woman was refunded a single penny, leaving them with incomplete, unusable building projects.

Martin was sentenced to three years and two months for the larger fraud involving the Anwick customer, and a concurrent term of one year and seven months for the second offence involving the Sleaford customer.

Online reviews left by customers painted a damning picture of Martin's conduct.

One reviewer wrote that his "terrible workmanship" cost them an additional £2,000 to have torn out and redone by another company.

A second reviewer called him a "complete conman" and warned others: "Do not go near!!"

A third wrote that he "stole money from my family and another" and that "both builds condemned."

Detective Constable Henry Atkinson of Lincolnshire Police, who led the investigation, thanked both victims for their cooperation.

"I would like to thank both of Martin's victims for working with Lincolnshire Police to bring him before the courts," he said.