Notorious Leamington Spa builder Paul Henstone is shamed on television

Feb 7 2012 by Jonny Greatrex, Sunday Mercury

A NOTORIOUS builder who left a trail of destruction across the Midlands has had his shocking workmanship exposed on television.

In December the Sunday Mercury told how Paul Henstone, 41, from Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, was jailed for 16 months at Warwick Crown Court after admitting fraud charges.

The shameless builder left homeowners tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket by taking cash for jobs he never finished.

And the work he did carry out was so poor that many customers had to fork out again to have their homes fixed.

Now Henstone, who ran Blackdown Construction and later Roc Construction And Roofing Ltd, has been featured on Channel Five’s Cowboy Builders, a show which exposes dodgy businesses.

The most recent episode featured a single mum who gave £13,000 to Henstone for a kitchen extension and a garage to be converted into a bedroom and bathroom for her seriously ill mother.

She became concerned when workers arrived late and left early. After a few weeks, Henstone, who had given a false name, failed to turn up at all.

He had left wires dangerously exposed, the extension was not properly supported, causing cracks in the walls, and proper insulation had not been installed, leaving the new bedroom uninhabitable.

The single mum said: “They were not coming regularly on time. When they came, they went early. They said the material had not come.