A ROGUE builder who defrauded residents and left homeowners without windows or a roof after failing to complete projects has been jailed for six years.

Stuart Regent, 60, conned four homeowners in the Royal Borough out of around £250,000 with a series of scams when he overcharged them for carrying out building works he never completed.

Regent, of Dockett Eddy, Chertsey, Surrey, conned three homeowners in Maidenhead, one in Windsor and one in South Bucks. He was handed the longest jail sentence ever secured by the Royal Borough's trading standards team after a lengthy trial.

Trading standards began investigating Regent’s behaviour in March 2015 after one of his victims complained of unfinished and overcharged building work.

During the long and complex investigation they found four homes in the borough and one in Buckinghamshire that Regent had failed to complete work at.

Cllr Jesse Grey, cabinet member for environmental services, said: “I am very pleased at this outcome and the sentence is the longest we have secured.

“This has been a lengthy and complex investigation and I want to thank officers for the extensive time they have put into this to protect the public from this conman.

“Regent’s crimes have had a profound impact on his victims and I hope this conviction provides some measure of closure to them.

“The scale and breadth of offending enabled our officers to prosecute Regent under the Fraud Act which carries a higher maximum sentence.”

One resident paid Regent to build an extension, but was left without windows or electricity when he abandoned the project after charging them more than £100,000.

Another victim was left without a finished roof or flooring and no internal plastering after asking Regent to renovate their home. The builder charged his victims thousands of pounds more than he should have done for the work.

Regent, who also went by the name Rasala, appeared at Reading Crown Court accused of five counts of fraud.

A jury unanimously found him guilty of each count at the end of a five-week trial in February.

He was then sentenced on March 2.