A window fitter who defrauded 22 customers with false promises and shoddy work has been ordered to pay back just £10 despite benefiting by £240,000. Jordan Klein Jones had "no respect" for his victims' property and on one occasion showed "no remorse" after smashing the frame for a photo of one customer's late 11-year-old grandson.
Jones' company KJ Windows, which was based in North Cornelly in Bridgend county and then Pontcanna in Cardiff, supplied and fitted UPVC products. In 2021 regulatory officers received complaints from 22 customers. Most had been cold-called at their door by a representative of KJ Windows and in some cases the company had taken money for works then never returned. In other cases the work was "very poor and even dangerous", said prosecutor Ian Ibrahim.
Jones, 29, gave customers excuses including the weather, staffing issues, Covid-19, failed deliveries, and incorrect measurements being taken. Mr Ibrahim said some victims had to borrow money to fix the damage Jones had caused, and some experienced depression because of his actions. He and his staff used "vulgar and disrespectful" language while at work. In one property he broke the frame for a picture of a victim's grandson, who had recently died, but showed "no remorse", the prosecutor told the court.
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In total Jones took more than £65,000 from victims and it cost them £95,942 to rectify the work. The defendant, of Church Place in Porthcawl, admitted carrying on a fraudulent business, a misleading commercial practice, and 13 unfair trading offences. The court heard he had a previous conviction for similar offences in 2018.
Speaking at the defendant's sentencing hearing in October last year, Judge Jonathan Rees KC said Jones had abused people’s trust and "begged, nagged and pressurised" them into sending him money. The judge gave him credit for his early guilty pleas and accepted he now showed remorse but also noted that in interviews he had "attempted to minimise" what he had done.
Judge Rees acknowledged the impact prison would have on Jones' family but said the offences were too serious to avoid jail. He imposed 32 months in prison and a 10-year criminal behaviour order banning Jones from running any kind of home improvements company.
A Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday heard Jones had benefited to the tune of £240,543 as a result of his offending, but had no available assets. Judge Lucy Crowther ordered Jones to pay a nominal sum of £10 within three months, or serve an additional one day in prison in default.
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