A builder has been found guilty of conning customers out of more than £1.25m for work he either never started or failed to finish.56-year-old Mark Killick, who often traded under the name Marc Cole, was on trial at Bristol Crown Court where he faced 46 charges of fraud against homeowners across the West Country between December 2019 and November 2021.
He was convicted on 37 counts of fraud by jury after a six-month-long trial at Bristol Crown Court. He was found not guilty of one charge with a further eight undecided.
The court heard Killick would charge his customers for building materials and labour but failed to complete the work. Instead, he kept the money to himself, spending thousands of pounds on luxury trips and items.
The jury heard that more than 100 customers of Killick complained that he took money for work that never began or was never finished.
During his trial, the prosecution claimed the 46 cases of fraud amounted to a £2 million lottery win.
One customer told police they had contracted Killick’s company to carry out work on 12 July in 2021. Killick had already taken some of their money but requested a further £10,000 to pay for glass doors.
In a police interview, when asked what happened to the glass doors he said: “I’ve no idea. The company’s got incoming and outgoings. My job was to get the income and that was it.
He went on: “Our intention was to do the job and do it well.”
When asked if he ordered the doors, he simply said: “I can’t remember.”
One customer told police they had contracted Mark Killick’s company to carry out work on 12 July in 2021.
In July 2021, another client paid Killick two transactions of £5,000 and and £3,000. During questioning in police custody, officers asked Killick why he had transferred £1,000 of this money to his personal account and spent it on an online gambling company website.
He replied: “No comment”.
Police say on 4 August, Killick then requested a further £7,500 for materials and another £5,000 on 25 August.
The customers did not receive any materials.
Killick transferred £1,000 of the money from one job to his personal account and spent it on an online gambling company website.
The 56-year-old denied all 46 counts of fraud; instead, claiming that he intended to complete the work but was unable to due to reasons outside of his control.
But the jury did not believe him and found him guilty of defrauding his customers out of large sums of money.
Killick was arrested in November 2021 on suspicion of fraud and money laundering after police received 100 complaints from customers who paid for deposits or building materials and no work or very little work had been done.
The moment Mark Killick was seemingly unfazed as he’s arrested at his home in Somerset
The jury heard Killick spent thousands of pounds on a luxury lifestyle including multiple stays at the Celtic Manor golf resort in Newport. He bought and sold luxury watches and spent large sums on betting and expensive holidays.
Those experiences were made possible, he said, by money from wages paid to him by his company.
Killick had used the surnames Jenkins and Cole on separate occasions in the past. But he denied that this was an attempt to avoid detection of earlier acts of fraud, which he was jailed for in 2014.
Killick’s business went into liquidation in 2021. He said the pandemic had lost him at least £1 million and a social media campaign to ‘ruin him’ was also to blame.
Killick claimed it was only when the company went into liquidation that building work stopped being completed and customers began to complain.
“He was running a Ponzi scheme, which means he was committed to doing work for numerous people but because the money was being spent on his lavish lifestyle, he didn’t have the money to use, so he had to get new money in to pay for other people’s developments or orders”, said Det Sgt Louise Sinclair.
Killick claims in a police interview that valuable items containing records of his work were ‘stolen’
During police interviews after his arrest, Killick claimed a motorway accident and subsequent theft from the vehicle explained a lack of any record of his work.
Killick claimed a brief case and items like laptops, phones and power tools were all taken.
When asked by the police officer whether he’d reported this to the police, Killick answered simply; ‘no’.
In a separate interview in November 2021, Killick was asked what he did to ensure there was enough money to meet the requirements of each building project, he said: “I’ve had no problem in getting our work done.
“We’ve done loads of jobs. I”m shocked I’ve been arrested. I’ve tried in good faith to do nice work for everyone.
“The company’s got income and outgoings. I couldn’t have worked any harder if I tried.”
“I loved the company. I was really proud of everything I tried to achieve. I just wanted to make it that little bit bigger so we could afford a management structure. I worked tirelessly to look after the customers.”
When asked how Killick would work out how much labour would cost, he said: “Just from experience. I’ve done all of his myself anyway. My work is really good. I know what I’m doing.
“It’ll be difficult for you guys to understand what it’s like running a company through a pandemic but it’s been very difficult”, he said.
“If you go online you’ll find loads of other people going through the same thing.”
‘He would sell ice to eskimos’, says detective leading the case
Detective Sergeant Louise Sinclair from Avon and Somerset Police said Killick would use his “charm” to persuade his victims to trust him.
“He will sell ice to eskimos if he needs to”, she told ITV News.
“He’s got the gift of the gab and the promise of the dream renovation that they desired and within a shorter time scale than other builders could commit to, was just enough to make people choose him as their contractor.”
‘He has ruined people’s dreams’
Trading Standards Investigator Martyn Nicklin told ITV News he had never seen a case with such a huge number of victims like this before.
“He’s ruined people’s dreams”, he said.
“He’s had a very detrimental effect on people. Building work is stressful, if that building work stops half way or not even half way through and you’re left having to pick up the pieces and rooms that have been demolished, then that’s in people’s environment, they’re living that on a day to day basis.
“You’ve then got to try and find another tradesperson and the money to pick up where they left you.”
Killick will be sentenced in December.
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