Newport Crown Court (Image: Anthony Morgan / Alamy)
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A builder who conned 15 victims out of more than £82,000 has been jailed after using a string of outlandish lies – including fake suicide attempts and claiming his wife had cancer – to cover his tracks.
Patrick Teehan, 57, of Chichester Way, Ely, Cardiff, operated as a builder across the city, taking large deposits for work that was either never started, left unfinished, or carried out to a substandard quality.
Newport Crown Court heard on Friday that Teehan would demand large sums upfront, supposedly for materials, before carrying out only rudimentary and destructive work – if any at all. He used unskilled and incompetent workers, fake addresses, and bogus paperwork to avoid detection.
The excuses
Teehan’s catalogue of lies was extraordinary. He told victims he had been in car crashes, that his van had broken down, that he had no internet, was stuck in Barry, had Covid, that his wife had cancer of the blood, and that he had attempted to take his own life due to mental health issues from his time in the army.
He even sent one victim a suicide note via WhatsApp, leaving them so distressed they contacted the police. That victim said he had been made to believe he was responsible for Teehan’s supposed attempt on his own life.
One victim said: “He said he had a car crash, his van broke down, had no internet, was stuck in Barry, had Covid, his wife had cancer of the blood, and said he tried to commit suicide due to having mental health issues from his time in the army.”
Another victim was told by Teehan’s wife that he had admitted himself into a mental health unit for ex-servicemen – only to discover he was actually on holiday in west Wales. The victim said this left him “sickened and angry to the core.”
In another case, Teehan told a victim he was in a mental health facility, but his social media showed he was training for a boxing match.
The victims
The court heard the full extent of Teehan’s offending across 15 victims between 2019 and 2021.
One victim paid £2,000 for an outbuilding that was barely started. The work had to be completed by another company at a cost of £11,000. She said: “My trust in trades people has gone… He decided to cheat me out of money.”
A second victim paid £60,000 for a loft conversion in Victoria Park, Cardiff, but the work was so poor the roof needed repairing. She lost £25,000.
A third victim lost £6,000 on an incomplete garage conversion on Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff. He said he had been left “devastated and in debt.”
A fourth victim from Penarth paid £19,000 for a garage extension, patio and fence but was left out of pocket by £3,373 after the work was never finished.
Other victims lost thousands on jobs including roof replacements, kitchen work, rendering, chimney repairs, patio installations, plastering, decking, and a summerhouse – all either abandoned or left in a dire state.
One victim from Church Village paid £4,500 for rendering work, but no materials were purchased despite Teehan claiming he had spent it all. The only work carried out was hacking old rendering off the walls, leaving her driveway in a mess.
A victim from Whitchurch paid £1,000 but Teehan failed to turn up on 10 agreed dates before blocking his calls. The victim’s wife took her own life in 2021, and he said: “He put me through hell knowing he had gained my trust.”
A victim from Lisvane paid for decking and gardening work but the only thing done was the digging of a trench filled with concrete. The garden was left looking like a building site, and the victims were owed £7,500.
The sentencing
When invited for a police interview, Teehan put it off multiple times with further excuses, including claims he was driving a vehicle to the Poland-Ukraine border and that he had cut his leg with a Stanley knife.
Teehan pleaded guilty to participating in a fraudulent business carried on by a sole trader. The court heard he has previous convictions including an offence of robbery for which he received an eight-year prison sentence.
In mitigation, Andrew Davies said his client was remorseful and “overwhelmed by grief” at his offences, and that he had made an attempt on his own life in November 2021 after being found unconscious at junction 33 of the M4. It was also said he had travelled to Poland and Ukraine for three years to carry out volunteer work.
Sentencing, Judge Carl Harrison said: “You left a trail of devastation for your victim which went far beyond financial loss.”
Teehan was sentenced to a total of 43 months’ imprisonment.
