Crying cowboy builder on benefits can't repay victims but wants to go on holiday
Mark Carey swindled people who contacted his MTC Landscaping and Solutions business on Facebook.
It was estimated he caused six victims a loss of more than £11,000 in total by promising work by either never showing up or delivering a substandard service.
READ MORE: Judge accuses mum of getting pregnant to avoid jail in blast over contraception
The 42-year-old, from Hazelwell Drive, Kings Heath, broke down in tears in the dock at Birmingham Crown Court as he was spared jail on Monday, June 30.
He was handed an 11-month sentenced suspended for two years including 30 days rehabilitation activity and a two-month electronically tagged curfew between the hours of 10pm and 7am.
Recorder Fiona Clancy asked if the latter requirement would cause any difficulty to Carey.
Joey Kwong, defending, explained that 'before his family found about this case' a relative had booked a flight for Carey to depart the UK tomorrow to attend his nephew's wedding.
He said: "Mr Carey is well aware he does not deserve to go on this trip but for the sake of his nephew..."
At that stage Recorder Clancy interjected and told him: "There is absolutely no way this defendant is going on a holiday abroad when he has defrauded those individuals.
"He is lucky to keep his liberty, there's no way. The electronically monitored curfew is going to be imposed."
The judge had earlier declared she was 'disgusted' by Carey's offending and expressed 'surprise' he had attended court without belongings to take to prison.
She told him he had avoided being jailed by 'the skin of your teeth' after hearing the loss of an unborn child had caused a significant downturn in his mental health, prompting him to abuse alcohol and painkillers at the time.
Recorder Clancy also stated she was 'displeased' she could not order Carey to pay compensation to his victims or contribute towards prosecution costs because he was currently not working and only receiving Universal Credit.
She reserved any future breaches of the suspended sentence order to herself and said: "If I find out he has breached the order he can attend next time with his bags packed."
Addressing Clarey directly Recorder Clancy added: "You are incredibly fortunate not to be going down the stairs today, incredibly.
"You turned up without bags, there must have been some expectation of not going down the stairs today.
"Don't in any way have sympathy to yourself for the fact you are missing out on a holiday. That's the punitive element required."
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