30
January
2015
|
12:17
Europe/London

Men admit doing substandard work on pensioner's park home

Christopher Meacey, 48, of Stonehill Walk and Angel Jay, 41, of Cotman Close, admitted at Oxford Crown Court to charges regarding poor quality building work at a pensioner's Radley park home.

The home owner has asked Meacey to paint the property's interior; to move a wall and to install a new toilet, bath and bathroom cabinet. The work began in April 2013 but it was not completed on time.

The home owner complained about the standard of workmanship and Meacey arranged for Jay to take over the job. Jay's work was also substandard.

Over-inflated price charged

Meacey charged his victim £4,810, significantly higher than what the work carried out was worth.

Meacey admitted breaking the fifth regulation of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 - charging an inflated amount for work that had a lesser value.

Meacey and Jay both pleaded guilty to breaching the third regulation of the legislation, that work done was not professionally diligent and that it was either poorly executed, below standard or done without the correct skill, knowledge, expertise and qualifications.

Successful investigation

Anu Prashar, an Oxfordshire County Council Trading Standards Team Leader, who prosecuted the cases, said: "Unfortunately there are some traders out there who take on jobs, do poor quality work and then vastly over inflate the price.

"Oxfordshire County Council's Trading Standards Team investigated the situation and successfully brought the cases to court, where the defendants admitted their guilt."

Buy With Confidence scheme

Councillor Rodney Rose, the Deputy Leader of Oxfordshire County Council who has Cabinet responsibility for Trading Standards, added: "This is yet another excellent result for Oxfordshire County Council's Trading Standards team. I hope these cases act as a deterrent to any dishonest traders who might be thinking of trying to earn quick money by doing substandard work.

"The county council has the Buy With Confidence Scheme, which is a list of reputable businesses which our Trading Standards team have checked and have approved. My advice is that people should consult this list so they can find a company that has been carefully vetted to ensure that they are honest and reputable."

Click here for more information about Buy with Confidence.

Meacey appeared in court on Friday, 23 January and Jay on Monday, 26 January. The pair will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on 27 February.