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Cowboy builder faces jail
McPhee was convicted after trial in Glasgow
A cowboy builder who fleeced elderly people in the west of Scotland out of £80,000 has been sent to the High Court for sentencing.
William McPhee was convicted of fraud two weeks ago after a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
William McPhee was convicted of fraud two weeks ago after a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
You were utterly merciless in your approach to them and in the way you cheated them out of their remaining financial resources  |
Sheriff Kenneth Maciver
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Sheriff Kenneth Maciver could have sentenced him to a total of three-and-a-half years in jail.
Instead, he referred him to the higher court which has unlimited sentencing powers. But before doing so, he accepted McPhee's offer of £60,000 compensation for the victims of his shoddy work.
The court heard McPhee, 37, from Glasgow, carried out uneccessary and shoddy repairs to their homes, charging them grossly in excess of a reasonable price.
Roof painted over
His oldest victim was a 91-year-old spinster from Newton Mearns who forked out £20,100 for work which should have cost between £800 and £850.
Instead of completely renovating her roof, the rogue trader covered it in green masonry paint to make it look as if the tiles had been renewed.
Five years ago McPhee was living in a caravan in Motherwell. At the time of his arrest he had a luxury mortgage-free £130,000 house and a silver £32,000 Mercedes in the driveway which his wife used for school runs.
Instead, he referred him to the higher court which has unlimited sentencing powers. But before doing so, he accepted McPhee's offer of £60,000 compensation for the victims of his shoddy work.
The court heard McPhee, 37, from Glasgow, carried out uneccessary and shoddy repairs to their homes, charging them grossly in excess of a reasonable price.
Roof painted over
His oldest victim was a 91-year-old spinster from Newton Mearns who forked out £20,100 for work which should have cost between £800 and £850.
Instead of completely renovating her roof, the rogue trader covered it in green masonry paint to make it look as if the tiles had been renewed.
Five years ago McPhee was living in a caravan in Motherwell. At the time of his arrest he had a luxury mortgage-free £130,000 house and a silver £32,000 Mercedes in the driveway which his wife used for school runs.
 William McPhee: Convicted of fraud
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To keep one step ahead of irate customers, police, VAT and Inland Revenue investigators, illiterate McPhee registered his businesses in a foreign country.
Ironically, he chose Wyoming - America's cowboy state.
At the end of the trial Sheriff Maciver calculated that although the frauds amounted to £80,000 on paper the victims had personally lost £60,000 of cash which they could ill afford and he urged McPhee to compensate them.
Peter Hammond, defending, told Sheriff Maciver that McPhee had put £17,211 in one bank account and a small sum of money from another into a special trust fund for for compensating victims.
Nephew prosecuted
Most of the cash raised, however, was a lump sum of £40,300.
Sheriff Maciver said: "You were utterly merciless in your approach to them and in the way you cheated them out of their remaining financial resources."
In the dock with McPhee was his nephew, Thomas, 19, described by the prosecution as his "apprentice fraudster".
He was found guilty of four of the charges involving frauds totalling £10,000 and was also sent to the High Court for sentence.
McPhee was brought to justice thanks to the biggest operation in the north of England and Scotland to trap cowboy builders and bogus workmen.
The cases include:
Ironically, he chose Wyoming - America's cowboy state.
At the end of the trial Sheriff Maciver calculated that although the frauds amounted to £80,000 on paper the victims had personally lost £60,000 of cash which they could ill afford and he urged McPhee to compensate them.
Peter Hammond, defending, told Sheriff Maciver that McPhee had put £17,211 in one bank account and a small sum of money from another into a special trust fund for for compensating victims.
Nephew prosecuted
Most of the cash raised, however, was a lump sum of £40,300.
Sheriff Maciver said: "You were utterly merciless in your approach to them and in the way you cheated them out of their remaining financial resources."
In the dock with McPhee was his nephew, Thomas, 19, described by the prosecution as his "apprentice fraudster".
He was found guilty of four of the charges involving frauds totalling £10,000 and was also sent to the High Court for sentence.
McPhee was brought to justice thanks to the biggest operation in the north of England and Scotland to trap cowboy builders and bogus workmen.
The cases include:
- An 83-year-old man handed over £750 to McPhee, who disappeared with the cash
- A dementia sufferer gave McPhee £7,900 for work which should have cost a few hundred pounds
- A disabled pensioner paid £4,000 for a non existent roof repair - McPhee even lifted him from his home into the garden to let him see the faked job
- A 64-year-old woman who paid thousands for an unnecessary roof repair had her bank account frozen by McPhee.
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