Warrant issued against builder

A warrant has been issued against a Black Country builder accused of defrauding people of more than £130,000 after he failed to attend court.

Paul David Bennett, aged 53, of Brunswick Terrace, Wednesbury, was due to appear before Birmingham Magistrates Court to answer eight charges.

But he failed to attend the hearing on Thursday, October 8 and magistrates granted a request for a warrant to be issued.

In the eight charges, the total amount of cash Bennett is alleged to have fraudulently obtained from customers is £136,390.

The first offence relates to an address in Birmingham with Bennett accused of knowingly being a party to the carrying on of a business, named P. Bennett Building Services Limited,  defrauding a customer to make payments of £23,450 in respect of proposed building works between August 1 2023 and August 31 2024.

The second is a similar charge related to a different address in Birmingham with the allegation being an intent to defraud £34,500 for proposed building works between June 1 2022 and January 31 2024.

A third identical charge took place between July 1 2021 and December 31 2023, this time at an address in Solihull where customers were alleged to have been induced to pay £28,275 in respect of proposed building works.

Charge four sees Bennett alleged to have been a party to carry on a business, this time named Visionviewhomes Limited, that induced a customer to make payments of £16,275 in respect of proposed building works at an address in Birmingham between August 1 2023 and January 31 2024.

The fifth charge is similar but this time under the company name of Prodigious Property Developments Limited. It is alleged a customer was induced to pay £8,590 for proposed building works at a Birmingham property between September 1 2019 and December 31 2019.

Charge number six relates to the company P. Bennett Building Services Limited where, between March 1 2022 and March 31 2022, Bennett is accused of inducing a customer to pay £15,000 for building works at a property in Leicester.

The seventh charge concerns a company named Caring Construction Limited with the allegation being a customer was induced to make payments of £3,430 for proposed building works at a property in Birmingham between April 1 2025 and April 30 2025.

And the final charge, again through the company Visionviewhomes Limited, Bennett is accused of defrauding £6,870 in respect of proposed building works at an address in Northampton.

By Gurdip Thandi | Local Democracy Reporting Service