A schoolteacher has been forced to cancel his retirement after losing tens of thousands of pounds to a rogue trader, who has also been accused of conning 30 others victims out of £400,000.
Sidney Rose, 73, claimed he had been forced to return to work after being ‘scammed’ out of £30,000 by Devon-based builder Steven Gent.
The allegations against Gent go back over a period of 15 years for incomplete or poor construction work conducted under as many as nine different company names and aliases, however Gent denies all allegations as ‘baseless’.
Mr Rose and his partner, Catherine Beetham, also 73 from Totnes in South Devon, took out a loan against their terraced Edwardian house to make it more comfortable for them in their older age.
But within two weeks builders from Gent’s company White Rock Building Services, had stopped turning up and responding to their messages.
Sidney Rose (right), 73, claimed he had been forced to return to work after being scammed out of £30,000 by Devon-based builder Steven Gent
Allegations against devon-based builder Steven Gent go back over a period of 15 years for incomplete or poor construction work conducted under as many as nine different company names and aliases
Construction mess left by Gent at Mr Rose’s home. Mr Rose took out a loan against his terraced Edwardian house to make it more comfortable for him and his wife in their older age
Conerns about Gent were raised when Gent stopped respondingto messages and builders stopped turning up
The couple paid Gent £30,000 to convert their upstairs bedroom into a bathroom and build a conservatory.
The ‘penny dropped’ just two weeks into the build but it was too late, Gent eventually stopped responding altogether and Mr Rose has now been forced to return to work as a supply teacher so he can pay off his loan and finish the project – which he has done at an extra cost of £20,000.
He said: ‘We were very cleverly scammed by this cowboy builder. We got taken for a ride and of course there’s a lot of shame and embarrassment in that.
‘We’re £30,000 out of pocket and it cost an extra £20,000 to put everything right and finish it off.
‘It’s put us under a lot of strain because we are retired teachers and our pensions are not fantastic.
‘Besides that, there’s been all of the mental issues that we’ve had to suffer and go through – my partner almost had a mental breakdown.
‘I went back to work, doing some supply teaching at a local secondary school and consultancy work at 73 years old, to pay bills and put Gent’s mess to right.
‘This is something I never thought I would have to do.’
Sadly Mr Rose is not the only person who has been affected, Wendy Craig, 66, from Preston, South Devon, also claims to have been ‘conned’ by Gent.
Ms Craig called for new measures to register and monitor construction workers as she fears Mr Gent’s case is just a ‘drop in the ocean’ and some builders are being allowed to commit fraud on an ‘industrial scale’.
Trading Standards have confirmed Mr Gent is currently under investigation after receiving a ‘number of complaints’.
Ms Craig, who paid Mr Gent £7,000 to renovate her garage in September 2021, described him as a ‘con artist’ who has left a ‘trail of destroyed lives’ in his wake.
‘Angry and desperate’, Ms Craig decided to create a ‘name and shame’ Facebook group for her local area and soon found dozens more people complaining about Mr Gent.
‘Mr Gent has left a trail of destroyed lives, homes that have lost value and desperate homeowners who do not know where to turn for help,’ Ms Craig said.
Wendy Craig paid Mr Gent £7,000 to renovate her garage in September 2021, described him as a ‘con artist’ who has left a ‘trail of destroyed lives’ in his wake
The construction mess left behind by Gent in Ms Craig’s garden. Ms Craig called for new measures to register and monitor construction workers as she fears Mr Gent’s case is just a ‘drop in the ocean’
‘Angry and desperate’, Ms Craig decided to create a ‘name and shame’ Facebook group for her local area and soon found dozens more people complaining about Mr Gent
Steven Gent responded: ‘They are unproven allegations’
She continued: ‘This is not a big corporation that owes money to a poor individual.
‘This is about an individual who owes us money because he ripped us off.
‘The whole system that I have had to deal with is just so ridiculous.
‘If that’s what British tax payers are paying for, they are being robbed.’
Comparing people’s stories, Ms Craig has been able to decipher what she described as Mr Gent’s ‘playbook’.
She said he presents well and offers to start work immediately before demanding a deposit.
Once work starts, Ms Craig found he requests further payments before suddenly breaking off communication and disappearing.
Upon closer inspection his completed work is frequently not up to standard and needs fixing, costing thousands of pounds more, she claimed.
Between 2007 and 2023, Mr Gent was linked to nine companies which have all been dissolved, including Ocean Construction Devon Ltd, Gent & Son Building Contractors Ltd, Broadsands Building Contractors Ltd, Bay Build Ltd, Torbay Build Ltd, Transformations SW Ltd, Gent Enterprises Ltd, Torbay Beach Hut Company Ltd and SOB SW Ltd.
Ms Craig said he also used a number of aliases, including Martyn Evans, Steve Ringmore, Steven Taylor, Andy Styles and Mike Jones, to cover his tracks.
Those who have lost vast sums of money regularly reported Mr Gent to the authorities, including the police, Trading Standards, building control and Torbay Council as early as 2009.
But Ms Craig said they have been ‘useless and done nothing’.
‘You try everything to recover your money,’ she added.
‘You report it to the police and are told they can’t help because it’s a civil matter.
‘Then you contact Citizens Advice and are put through to Trading Standards who again say they cannot help.’
Out of options, Ms Craig took her case to the Torquay and Newton Abbot County and Family Court and was awarded £12,416.48, due to be paid by Mr Gent by June 5, 2023.
She has yet to receive a penny and she is not alone.
Steven Gent resonded: ‘They are unproven allegations.’
A spokesperson for the Heart of the Southwest Trading Standards Service said: ‘We have received a number of complaints regarding Mr Gent and we are investigating.
‘Members of the public who feel that they have been unfairly treated, misled or owed money by a tradesperson are entitled to pursue a civil court claim and in the first instance they should contact Citizens Advice Consumer Service who will be able to advise further.’
