Pictures of botched and incomplete work by Portsmouth rogue trader jailed for five years

Con man Paul Gaffney, 61, was incarcerated at Portsmouth Crown Court following his latest round of fraud on unsuspecting victims left £67,000 out of pocket to fund his lavish lifestyle and gambling habit.

Gaffney, formerly of Shelley Avenue, Paulsgrove, targeted three households in the Fareham area to carry out building and property maintenance but completed little or no work, defrauding his victims of over £67,000. An investigation by Portsmouth City Council’s Trading Standards service resulted in eight counts of fraud and a breach of a Criminal Behaviour Order.

Pictures released by the council show timber propping under a property which “serves no purpose” for one of his victims. For another of those conned, Gaffney ripped a bathroom out but did not replace or undertake the work. 

As reported, two Portchester victims, aged 68 and 78, used pension savings and sold their motorhome when they were conned out of £62,785 for unnecessary works and medical appointments in 2021.

Gaffney convinced his elderly victims that he had a background in large building projects and could open their downstairs space, replace the kitchen, and build a conservatory. While waiting for the kitchen to be delivered, a kitchen that Gaffney never ordered, the rogue trader made false claims of other work that was needed, including issues with the damp proof course, flat roof, chimney, and mains water pipe. An independent surveyor confirmed little work was completed.

Cruelly, Gaffney conned them out of an additional £2,300 after he heard that one of the victims had suspected cancer and convinced them that he could arrange for fast-track diagnostic scans at a private hospital and impersonated the surgeon’s secretary in a phone call in which he withheld his phone number.

Thankfully, the victims’ bank was able to refund some of the losses as most of the £62,785 was paid in bank transfers, excluding about £3,500 of the early transactions that were made in cash.

In 2020, another elderly victim in Portchester was conned into paying Gaffney for work that was never completed, including flashing to a chimney and kitchen extension, and to renew the kitchen floor.

A third victim paid Gaffney £180 for replacement fence panels in 2021, however after months of them not materialising, in November 2021 the victim got a refund after threatening to contact police. But after a storm in February 2022, ruthless Gaffney returned to the Fareham home and pleaded for a second chance. It led to the homeowner agreeing to hand over £300 for the fences and a step to be installed and the rogue trader never returned to complete the work.

This isn’t the first encounter Portsmouth City Council has had with Gaffney, dubbed a “serial rogue trader” by the authority. In 2014, following a joint investigation between Portsmouth Trading Standards service and Hampshire Constabulary, Gaffney was sentenced to nine years’ sentence for over £105,000 fraud against 18 victims and successful confiscation proceedings secured compensation for the homeowners.

In 2022, a Portsmouth Trading Standards investigation resulted in the 75-hours Community Order and a Criminal Behaviour Order of five years, which he subsequently breached and has now been sentenced for.

After his current five-year prison sentence, Gaffney will have a 10-year criminal behaviour order prohibiting him from offering his own or others’ services for building work.