Trader to appear in court charged with £31,000 fraud and 'aggressive behaviour'

Gary Steven Nelson, 46, faces four charges – two of fraud, two under unfair trading regulations. All concern a home in Ingleby Barwick between October 2021 and May 2022.

He is accused of fraud by failing to complete work at the address “having been paid £31,190”, and by making “variations to the extension build… which were not in accordance with the original plans agreed with the homeowner”.

The first unfair trading charge concerns “failing to undertake work” at the home. It is alleged he “knowingly or recklessly engaged in a commercial practice which contravened the requirements of professional diligence”.

The final charge alleges he engaged in an aggressive commercial practice “by threatening to walk off the build” if a female complainant did not agree to install a flat roof, “through the use of harassment, coercion or undue influence”.

Nelson, of Redland Close, Stockton, was not at Teesside Magistrates’ Court for the first hearing. Natalie Hodgson, prosecuting for Stockton Council, said it was a trading standards prosecution with allegations of an “irresponsible contractor”.

Marion Kitt, chairing the magistrates’ bench, adjourned the case for him to attend court on September 5.