A rogue trader in Scotland who defrauded customers into paying for shoddy driveway work has been jailed following an investigation by Falkirk Council Trading Standards.
In two incidents in 2019, Keenan Kirkwood, trading as Kirkwood Paving Ltd, deceived vulnerable homeowners into paying for poor-quality and unnecessary driveway repairs. In one case, Kirkwood made an unsolicited visit to the home of an elderly couple and persuaded them to transfer £11,500 into his account on the same day.
The subsequent work was carried out to such a poor standard that a further £8,000 was necessary to pay for remedial measures to rectify Kirkwood’s mistakes.
In another case, homeowners were tricked into parting with £1,850 for work which ended up costing an additional £2,500 to put right.
Falkirk Trading Standards investigated the cases, which they reported to the Procurator Fiscal. Last month at Falkirk Sheriff Court, Kirkwood pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and he has now been sentenced to 160 days in prison.
Councillor Stacey Devine, spokesperson for Public Protection said: “The team’s commitment to community protection played a pivotal role in bringing this case to justice.
“We have a zero-tolerance approach for rogue traders who target, in the main, vulnerable people. We work closely with Police Scotland to secure convictions, sending a clear message that these activities are not acceptable and will not be tolerated.”
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