Cowboy builder who fleeced customers of £200,000 for unfinished or unsafe homes has jail sentence suspended

Get your news delivered straight to you by 7am - sign up to our new Morning Mail newsletter for FREE See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 10:28 EDT, 27 August 2026 | Updated: 11:07 EDT, 27 August 2026 A businessman who 'ripped off' customers for more than £200,000 with poor-quality building work has avoided jail.Michael Haslam, director of M and J Builders, took money from eight families between 2021 and 2022 while his company failed to pay its debts.The 74-year-old was sentenced to 28 months in prison in July for fraudulent trading after pleading guilty at Derby Crown Court and was initially given bail.However, he has now had his sentence suspended following an appeal.Haslam charged his victims for incomplete work or materials that never arrived – often building to such a poor standard that it had to be redone by other tradesmen.One woman, who lived with her partner and baby, paid Haslam more than £47,000 up front to his personal account in the spring of 2022.After less than three months, the work stopped and the property was 'left unsafe and without running water', before Haslam told the woman his company was likely to go into liquidation.Another woman with two adult children with special needs paid him nearly £18,000 'for work which was never completed and materials which were never ordered', a court heard. Michael Haslam (pictured), director of M and J Builders, took money from eight families throughout 2021 and 2022 while his company failed to pay its debts Haslam charged his victims for incomplete work or materials that never arrived - often building to such a poor standard that it had to be redone by other tradesmen. Pictured: A mess created by his company A court heard Haslam 'kept taking money' from members of the public with customers required to pay upfront for work that was not doneSitting with Mrs Justice McGowan and Mrs Justice Eady, Lady Justice Whipple added: 'She was later told by the local council that the work done by the appellant's company was such that she would be better having it demolished and rebuilt rather than trying to fix it.'She has not yet been able to raise sufficient funds to do that.'A court previously heard Haslam, from Derby, 'kept taking money' from members of the public with customers required to pay upfront for work that was not done.Haslam 'closed his eyes to the inevitable' and 'ripped off' families in a bid to 'stay afloat', Judge Shaun Smith KC ruled.M and J Builders, which ran into financial difficulty in 2019, was unable to pay its debts, went insolvent and was wound up at the High Court after a petition in November 2022. But in a judgment on an appeal yesterday, Lady Justice Whipple said the sentence was 'borderline between suspension and immediate custody' and that Judge Shaun Smith could have 'gone either way'.She said the judge had changed his mind after reading the impact of Haslam's work on the families, which she described as 'devastating - financially, emotionally and psychologically'.Defending Haslam, Paul Stimson had told an earlier hearing that because Judge Smith had suggested Haslam would not go to prison, it was unfair to then sentence him to 28 months' immediate custody.Lady Justice Whipple said: 'Judges are entitled to change their minds and we entirely follow the judge's reasons for doing so in this case.'However, the resulting custodial sentence does leave us with a sense of injustice, because it did not match the appellant's expectation, which expectation had been created by the judge at the earlier hearings.'Haslam's sentence of 28 months is to be suspended for two years with a rehabilitation and unpaid work requirement of 160 hours.