Callous conman ripped off customers to tune of £15,000 with a bogus groundwork company

A callous conman who ripped off customers to the tune of £15,000 with a bogus groundwork company has been jailed.

Over the course of four months Christopher Barlow, 37, of Argyle Street, Heywood conned five people into handing over large amounts of cash for work he did not complete.

At a sentencing hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court, prosecuting, Andrew Evans said that between July 28, 2020 and October 27, 2020 Barlow persuaded five members of the public to provide him with money on the understanding that work would be done. He did not complete any of that work, nor did he have the ability to do so, the court heard.

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Mr Evans said: "The work in question was garden ground work, paving in the main, all tendered for under the umbrella of the defendant’s now defunct business Manchester Groundworks. That business operated via Facebook, advertising previous work on the Facebook site, and conducting communications via the Facebook Messaging app or by email. Never once was a physical or postal address given out."

The court heard how deposits were paid but work was never completed – in many cases not even begun, necessitating the complainants trying to track down Barlow. Occasionally he would reply, usually with an excuse and a new proposed date. Eventually in each case he ignored calls, messages and email, and each complainant then resorted to seeking help from Citizen’s Advice.

Mr Evans said: "The defendant was not easy to find – he told some of the complainants he was called “Chris Allan”, he routed payments through his son’s bank account and the registered details of the company used addresses of other family