Last week at Downpatrick Crown Court, Grahame Love entered not guilty pleas to the 20 fraud charges but standing in the dock of the same court on Tuesday, the 50-year-old fraudster was re-arraigned and admitted his guilt. The charges, committed between August 24, 2020 and September 3, 2021, disclose how Love took money from 20 different complainants to “secure the materials for and labour costs” for building sheds, summer houses or garden rooms. Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to NorthernIrelandWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Having heard that the charges on the indictment amount to losses of £31,995 for the 20 victims, Judge Geoffrey Miller KC asked ”where did the money go?” and defence counsel Conan Rea said, while he would outline the full details during submissions at the sentencing hearing, Love was using money from one client to pay another. The barrister told the court that according to Love, “effectively there was a large increase in the price of timber and that created all sorts of difficulties and he got himself into a hole.” “He realises that once in that hole he should’ve stopped digging but effectively, he did not,” conceded Mr Rea revealing that in one incident, Love had gone to the bank with a customer to repay them but bank staff told him “that his account had been frozen”.
Judge Miller had previously enquired what restitution would be available and on Tuesday the lawyer further revealed that Love had managed to gather together £6,000. Advertisement Advertisement “I asked him if there were further time allowed what further amount could be obtained and the same amount again could be obtained but it would take about a year to do so,” said Mr Rea, conceding that even if Love managed to obtain £12,000, the amount he swindled “is still significantly more than he is in a position to repay”. Love, from Minorca Drive in Carrickfergus, was freed on bail but Judge Miller warned the cowboy builder “these are serious offences and people have been defrauded, by virtue of your failure to manage your own business, out of hard-earned sums of money.
“It is unlikely they will receive much by way of compensation,” said the judge,warning Love that when he comes back to be sentenced on October 15, “all options will be open to the court.” Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to NorthernIrelandWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you..
