Cowboy builder who fleeced customers of £200,000 for unfinished or unsafe homes has jail sentence suspended
Michael Haslam, director of M and J Builders, has had a 28-month prison sentence suspended after being convicted of fraudulent trading involving more than £200,000 taken from customers. The case matters because eight families were left with incomplete, unsafe or substandard home work, often requiring costly rebuilding, while the company was already unable to meet its debts.
Haslam took upfront payments during 2021 and 2022, including more than £47,000 from one family whose home was left without running water, and nearly £18,000 from another customer for work and materials that were never provided. The Court of Appeal said immediate custody had been a borderline decision, but suspended the sentence for two years because earlier judicial comments had created an expectation that he would avoid prison; he must also complete rehabilitation and 160 hours of unpaid work.
- Builder’s 28-month sentence was suspended on appeal.
- Eight families lost more than £200,000.
- He must complete 160 hours of unpaid work.
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M and J Builders was a building company directed by Michael Haslam. In 2021 and 2022, customers paid the firm in advance for building work and materials, but eight families were left with unfinished, unsafe or poor-quality work.
The company was already unable to pay its debts while taking customers’ money. Some homeowners faced major costs to put their homes right, including one whose house was left without running water. The case concerns how building firms handle advance payments and what can happen when work is not completed.
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The case for
The Court of Appeal's decision properly respected judicial consistency and clear expectations set by previous judgments. Suspended sentences can be rehabilitative, requiring unpaid work and rehabilitation rather than costly imprisonment. For white-collar fraud, community-based sentences combined with reputational damage and professional consequences often prove more effective deterrents than incarceration. The framework recognised both the seriousness of the crime and the need to balance consequences with proportional sentencing principles already established in law.
The case against
Eight families suffered concrete, lasting harm through unsafe homes and substantial financial losses requiring expensive remediation—this is serious criminal victimisation, not abstract wrongdoing. The court's own characterisation of immediate custody as 'borderline' indicates the gravity warranted prison time. Suspended sentences risk signalling to other cowboy builders that defrauding customers of six figures carries manageable consequences, undermining deterrence. Victims who lost tens of thousands of pounds whilst their homes remain unsafe may struggle to perceive justice in a non-custodial outcome, regardless of the offender's rehabilitation.