Fraudulent builder Billee Hopkinson ordered to pay over £60,000 by court after scamming customers

Billee Hopkinson, 35, was the sole company director of Ultra Restore Limited, a home improvements business, from its creation in 2013 until it was wound up on December 30 2021.

In May, he was jailed for 20 months for scamming victims out of more than £63,000 - despite having no building qualifications - following an investigation into consumer complaints received by Lancashire County Council's Trading Standards. 

However six months later, on December 15, Billee attended his Proceeds of Crime hearing at Preston Crown Court as a free man, meaning he had served less than half of his sentence.

What did the Proceeds of Crime hearing find?

A Proceeds of Crime hearing takes place when a defendant is determined to have benefited from a criminal lifestyle and a court must decide on a recoverable amount.

Billee’s Proceeds of Crime hearing found he had profited £36,582.87 from his victims, and he was ordered to pay the full amount back, plus compensation to three victims and court costs, totalling £2000, within three months. 

If Hopkinson does not pay the full figure in that time frame, he could face a 12 month prison sentence.

The compensation order for only one of Billie's three victims has been set, and it is at £28,000 which takes the minimum amount Billee has to pay to £66,582.87 but with two more orders set to be made, it is likely to be nearer the £100,000 mark.

Is Billee a free man?

The Ministry of Justice confirmed that Billee was out under a Home Detention Curfew (HDC) which helps to manage the transition of eligible offenders from custody back into the community by allowing them to be released from prison early.

The released offenders remain subject to significant restrictions on their liberty, including on where they can travel and who they can contact, whilst they are also subject to an electronically monitored curfew

To be eligible for release on HD, offenders must serve either a quarter of their sentence or 28 days (whichever is longer).

When approached with Billee's case, a Prison Service spokesperson said: “Offenders must pass tough risk assessments before being approved for Home Detention Curfew and abide by strict rules – which if broken will see them returned to prison.”

Hopkinson’s time in court

Hopkinson of Tag Lane in Preston, first pleaded guilty to three charges from The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations Act 2008 at Preston Magistrates Court on January 16.

The first two counts were for knowingly or recklessly engaging in a commercial practice which contravenes the requirements of professional diligence under regulation 3(3)(a), between the period of August 31 2020 to July 17 2021, and September 6 2021 to November 30 2021 respectively.

The third was for engaging in a commercial practice which is a misleading omission under regulation 6 on January 24 2022.

Hopkinson was due to appear at Preston Crown Court for a sentence hearing on March 17, but it was postponed for unknown reasons.

At Hopkinson’s sentence hearing on May 19, Preston Crown Court heard the facts of the case, and the judge adjourned the sentencing until Thursday, May 25, when he was then handed a 20 month jail sentence, and was also disqualified from being a company director for 10 years.

On Friday, December 15, a Proceeds of Crime hearing was held at Preston Crown Court - as outlined above.

Stories from Hopkinson’s court case

In early 2020, one customer applied for a grant from South Ribble Borough Council to convert her garage into a bedroom and wet room for her disabled daughter at a cost of £17,500. This was due to begin in August, to be completed by Christmas but she had concerns with the standard and amount of time it was taking.

Despite Hopkinson having received £13,500, there were a number of major issues with the work including a shower tray and a standard height sink installed, which were unsuitable for her daughter to use with a wheelchair.

South Ribble Borough Council sent out a building control officer to inspect the work and he discovered issues, including that the bathroom was not waterproofed, the ramp and doors were unsuitable, and deemed the work unsatisfactory. The remaining grant amount was put towards rectification work by other tradespeople.

The impact was described as 'substantial' on the family as the customer's daughter had to cancel a transplant.

In June 2021, another customer, staff nurse Katie Sowerby, enquired through the Trustatrader website, where she had seen that Ultra Restore had 5 star reviews, and was quoted £24,000 for a loft conversion.

The mum of three shelled out £17,550 in instalments between September and October but the work was slow and so badly done that it was even causing damage to her neighbour's properties. In November 2021, Preston City Council Building Control inspected the property and called the work to a halt.

In December 2021, Katie was told that Ultra Restore Limited was going into liquidation. At this stage, Trading Standards became involved and instructed an independent surveyor to inspect the work in February 2022.

The surveyor said that the work done had caused an extensive amount of water to enter the property and caused internal damage to ceilings in main bedroom and bathroom, which would need repairing and rooms redecorating. He found that the roofing works completed by the contractor were incomplete and defective throughout.

The surveyor summarised: "The works have been so poorly executed that one could arrive at the conclusion that the person carrying out this work possessed no knowledge or skills in not only construction work but general building standards."

All of the work carried out would require redoing, and on top of this, "the cost of rectifying the damaged and defective work will be more than the monies currently paid out," he said.

In August 2021, another customer contacted Ultra Restore Ltd after seeing them on Trustatrader.com.

Hopkinson priced a three-part extension at £78,000, and said he would start on November 1 2021, with the first phase of work being finished before Christmas. She paid £28,200 in instalments to Ultra Restore Limited's business account.

Ultra Restore Ltd went into liquidation in December but the customer was not informed of this and was asked to pay a further £4,000 into a different bank account in Hopkinson's own name. Shortly after she had paid this, she found out that the firm had folded.

This customer said she does not believe much work had been done. She said that the orangery extension at the back, foundations and drainage were done, and partial walls had been put up for the kitchen, but they appeared wobbly and were built with non-matching brick, so needed to come down.

Background to the case

Hopkinson first featured in the Post when a former customer, Tony Carey, said he had handed over £6,200 ahead of a project on his house, before Ultra Restore pulled down large parts of his existing extension but never returned to finish the job.

Since then, two other disgruntled customers came forward. Anup Raj says he spent £26,000 on unfinished construction work before Ultra Restore went into a liquidation on December 31 2021, and Katie Sowerby lost £17,000, as mentioned above.

When confronted by the Post last year, Hopkinson said he had been unfairly criticised and was the victim of rising costs in the building trade, which meant he had to pass on extra costs to customers after agreeing an original price.

At the time, Hopkinson said: “I’m a victim of circumstances, I’ve been open for 10 years or so, and every review was perfect until lockdown.”