Cowboy builder finally gets comeuppance after exposing himself with brazen blunder

A rogue builder who abandoned a job for two disabled children was caught partying with the cash in a nightclub.

Jason Brice, 46, evaded the family - and justice - until victims Jaime and Noah Fagan saw photographs of the man partying at Popworld and "flashing" wads of cash at the bingo. Armed with the knowledge of Brice's whereabouts, Jaime told police who arrested the man, and he's now been jailed for eight months.

Jaime, 46, said: "We felt we had done our due diligence, he had a registered company, had references and was on Checkatrade. But it was all fake and we just did not realise it at the time.

"He disappeared, leaving us with a hole in our roof. When I saw the pictures of him out and about at Popworld, and the Brean holiday site, spending our money with his friends, I felt completely sick. He had taken us for fools. He had played on our insecurities to take our money for a good time. He was aware this was all the money we had. He knew what a negative impact this would have on our family, and he did it anyway"

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Jaime had employed Brice after she remortgaged the family home to build a loft conversion to accommodate their two teenage sons with special needs. However, he vanished with the family's money, claiming mental health and family difficulties, leaving the building in a "shoddy" state with a leaking roof.

After Jaime and 48-year-old Noah spotted the brazen pictures on social media, they told police, who said it was a "civil matter" but Trading Standards took on the case and found two other victims. Brice was caged at Bristol Crown Court last week.

As he was being taken down the defendant, who traded as Creo Creations, shouted: "What, I am going to prison, is that really necessary?" The judge replied in a single word: "Yes".

Mum-of-two Jaime, of Bristol, continued: "The way he reacted to the prison sentence showed he had no remorse and did not think he had done anything wrong.

"It is over three years since he arrived in our home to start an eight-week piece of work, and it still isn't done. He walked away from our project with all our money leaving us with no means to make the house safe and useable. The result has been completely devastating to our physical and mental health and our finances."

The Fagans were left around £36,000 out of pocket with some work still unfinished when Brice walked out on the job. It emerged he also left two other families with unfinished building projects and significant financial harm and emotional distress.

The Fagans' project included an additional bathroom - a wet room - to support their boys, aged 17 and 14, with personal care, and a spare room to allow for a carer to stay overnight as the children got older.

Additionally, they had planned to use the loft extension as a small apartment-style studio for their sons, who she said "may never live independently." Brice changed his number and it took Jaime months to find another builder to take the project on. She later discovered Brice had not even completed the £38,500 of work for which he had been paid.

"The result has been the compete opposite. It's a complete mess, and I am so angry that Jason Brice felt it was acceptable to use our vulnerabilities to rip us off for his own personal gain," Jaime continued.

"The Popworld pictures all had dates and were over the last month when he claimed he had mental health issues. But he was our partying and spending all our money."

Brice, from Bristol, admitted three offences under Consumer Protection legislation.