A cowboy builder was spared jail yesterday – but could not escape the media spotlight.

David Goymer, got a helping hand from television’s Dominic Littlewood as he left Lewes Crown Court yesterday, after he admitted failing to tell his customers he was a bankrupt.

Goymer, of Richmond Road, Pevensey, Eastbourne, was featured on Channel Five’s Cowboy Builders programme after customers complained he took money for work he failed to carry out or complete.

He walked with a frame and needed help getting into his car when he appeared at court yesterday.

The 64-year-old admitted four counts of accepting payments without disclosing he was an undischarged bankrupt.

He was made bankrupt in 1984, 1993, 2000 and 2001.

In 2008 he was placed under a ten-year bankruptcy restriction order.

Between January 2003 and September 2007 he accepted cash and cheques from four customers, for sums ranging between £1,000 and £23,000.

The cheques were made payable to his wife’s hairdressing business.

Goymer had originally denied the charges before pleading guilty yesterday.

The prosecution was brought by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

A spokesman said that in addition to failing to disclose that he was an undischarged bankrupt, he also either failed to carry out or complete work he had accepted payment for.

His one-year sentence was suspended for two years, with a condition that he lives at Richmond Road for at least the next six months.