A notorious builder, infamous for causing severe damage to his clients’ homes, has been sentenced to prison for the third time.

Lee Slocombe has left numerous homeowners facing financial ruin, burdening them with debts amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds while endangering their safety with substandard construction practices.

In one alarming incident, the 43-year-old employed an unqualified gas engineer, resulting in a carbon monoxide leak in a residence where a 10-month-old baby lived.

Evidence presented in court included images revealing plaster crumbling from ceilings and visible damp spots at various sites managed by Slocombe.

One photograph showed a window installation that was improperly sized, with wooden fill-ins awkwardly wedged into the gaps.

An expert witness testified about the conditions of the sites, citing instances of discarded debris, work deemed ‘unsafe’ and ‘unfinished,’ as well as construction efforts described as ‘poor’ and ‘incomplete.’

Slocombe’s handiwork cost homeowners at least £570,000 and left homes unfinished and wrecked.

He repeatedly convinced customers unnecessary work was needed, raised costs without cause and abandoned jobs mid-way through – leaving families with huge repair bills.

Lee Slocombe, 43, cost customers at least £547,000 and left their homes in ruins, with some forced into severe financial difficulties

An image from evidence used in court shows a clear gap between a fitted window and the wall of a home on which Slocombe worked

At one home Slocombe left rubbish across the back garden including a cement mixer and a door

On another site in Swansea Slocombe was responsible for ‘unsafe first fix electrics’ according to an expert witness

According to the expert witness there was a ‘damp ingress’ on the same house

Slocombe was first jailed for three years and seven months in 2015 for botched building offences before returning to prison in 2023, when he was sentenced to five years and five months for other crimes.

But he had already targeted more people while on bail.

Slocombe used the fake name ‘Lee Lewis’ to hide his history and carried out dangerous, often pointless building work at properties in Cardiff, Bridgend and Swansea.

He defrauded nine victims of more than £400,000, with homeowners’ total loss calculated to be at least £547,000 after adding the cost of repairs.

He used an unqualified gas engineer twice, on one occasion leaving carbon monoxide leaking in a house where a baby lived.

Some victims were forced to take out loans, overdrafts or raid their pension pots to repair their homes.

Judge Christopher Felstead described Slocombe as a ‘persistent rogue builder’ and jailed him for six years, also handing him a Criminal Behaviour Order and disqualifying him from being a company director until 2031.

The Criminal Behaviour Order bans Slocombe from carrying out any building, maintenance or gardening work in the UK.

He had pleaded guilty to two counts of participating in a fraudulent business – one personally and one through his company LSP Developments.

After the verdict Norma Mackie, a member of Cardiff Council, said Slocombe caused his victims ‘immense misery’, carrying out ‘sub-standard work’ and leaving some properties in such disrepair that they were ‘open to the elements, not watertight and simply dangerous’.

‘The stress he caused is unimaginable and he deserves to be sent directly back to prison,’ she added.

‘Hopefully, this outcome provides some closure for the victims, knowing that he is where he belongs – back behind bars.’

Slocombe was jailed in 2023 after defrauding seven Swansea families of more than £147,000 through his previous company Kamlee Builders.

The expert witness in Slocombe’s latest court hearing said ‘poor insulation of studwork’ could be seen in his work pictured

In Swansea the expert witness found the pictured ‘incomplete “bathroom” extension’

The blockwork and rendering on this home in Swansea was ‘incomplete’, the expert witness found

At the time the Daily Mail reported how Slocombe left customers’ homes in ruins and some in severe financial difficulties.

A Daily Mail investigation discovered he had changed his name to carry on trading.

The serial fraudster used Facebook to advertise his building firm in Swansea, South Wales, and most of his victims were retired and over 70.

He would quote his customers a low price for work then badger them for more money claiming he had found faults with their properties.

In one case he quoted a woman £1,100 but she ended up paying £22,675 and had to take out a second mortgage to pay him.

When Trading Standards officers confronted Slocombe he gave them a false name and address.

In 2023 Swansea Crown Court heard how Robert and Christine Lyons hired the builder to carry out repairs to their roof but left their property in a complete mess after charging them £67,517.

Prosecutor Lee Reynolds said: ‘The stress on Mr Lyons was incalculable and affected his mental health.

‘The couple were left in sheer panic and lost control – Slocombe was aware of their financial situation but said he had problems in his personal life.

‘He said his son was in hospital having operations and made numerous excuses to do with the weather and workers.

In one case Slocombe quoted a woman £1,100 but she ended up paying £22,675 and had to take out a second mortgage to pay him

When Trading Standards officers confronted Slocombe he gave them a false name and address. Pictured: Unfinished work left by the builder

Prosecutor Lee Reynolds described how Robert and Christine Lyons hired the builder to carry out repairs to their roof but left their property in a complete mess after charging them £67,517

‘An expert who examined his work said it was carried out by someone with no tangible expertise and the work was unnecessary and unjustified’.

One Swansea family paid more than £78,000 for work and repairs after going into ‘financial meltdown’.

Another couple were charged £18,000 for a job a surveyor said should have cost less than £600 and taken an hour.

At the time David Hopkins, Swansea Council’s cabinet member for corporate services, said Slocombe showed an ‘extremely disturbing level of dishonesty and appalling treatment towards families in Swansea’.

In 2015 Newport Crown Court heard Slocombe started work on properties only to ask his victims for more cash to get the job done.

He would fail to return, leaving homes like building sites with his customers so broke they were unable to bring in reputable contractors to finish the job.

Slocombe even featured on the Channel 5 programme Cowboy Builders which told the story of his deception.

But months after being freed from prison he was able to set up two separate building firms praying on more unsuspecting customers.

He was hired by Tomoz Krol, 39, and his wife Marta, 37, to build a garage extension with two bedrooms and an en-suite above at their £300,000 semi-detached home in Fairwater, Cardiff.

But two years later the couple and their two children were still living on a dangerous building site.

They discovered the builder they hired using the name of Lee Lewis was Lee Slocombe and Mr Krol said he ‘nearly had an heart attack’ when he found out the true identity of his builder.

When the Daily Mail contacted Slocombe he claimed he was ‘squeaky clean’ before later admitting he was due at Swansea Crown Court for the charges he was locked up for in 2023.

Cardiff Council said his latest sentence should give victims ‘some closure’, while Swansea Council previously praised its Trading Standards team for ensuring ‘no other families will suffer at the hands of this rogue builder’.