Fraudster Plumber Set Up Business Under Name Lee King

A plumber set up a business under the fake name Lee King and scammed customers out of thousands of pounds.

Damon Owens, 34, used numerous aliases to evade detection, as he had previously been convicted of scamming customers.

Owens also wrote fake reviews for his businesses, which operated under names such as Cardiff Construction, UK Emergency Plumber, Scarlets Electrical, Emergency Plumbers Bristol, and Drain Repair UK.

The fraudster operated in Cardiff, Bristol and South Wales and asked a family in Rumney to pay £34,000 for an extension. However, he left the job halfway through - having taken a £16,875 deposit - and the Hulland family were left with a large hole in their garden, which they had to employ other contractors to repair.

Wales News Service

Speaking to Wales Online, Sam Hulland said: "I really trusted him, he would always update me with what was going on and would send me pictures of kitchen designs.

"He knew we were expecting another child and reassured us the work would be completed in time.

"He was always on his own working at the property, as he knew we couldn't live there at the time. He gave me mobile numbers of people he had done work for, but I was never able to get hold of them.

"He even offered to stay at the property overnight as no one else was there, which just wasn't needed. He tried to develop a friendship."

On reflection, Mr Hulland said Owens 'had no feelings' towards him and his family.

He added: "I tried to visit the property on a daily basis to make sure everything was okay and he constantly assured us everything would be okay.

Wales News Service

"We were paying a mortgage on a house we weren't living in, it was so tough. I had a feeling of anger when I saw the work, he had no feelings toward us."

At Cardiff Crown Court, Prosecutor Ieuan Bennett said Owens had told another customer he was shot in the head while serving in the Royal Marines.

Mr Bennett said: "He told her he had been on active service in Bosnia when he was injured. He told her he had been shot in the back of the head."

Owens said the story was true in court and the case was adjourned to allow his military records to be checked.

Judge Phillip Harris-Jenkins said: "He is a fraudster and I do not take the word of convicted fraudsters."

Owens admitted to 13 charges of undertaking a deceptive practice and is due to be sentenced in April.

Topics: UK News, News, crime, Scam, Fraud

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey