A BUILDER who fleeced clients out of almost £48,000 has been jailed for 30 months.

Jeremy John Penfold took deposits from seven customers across Sussex and used their money to take a luxury break in Mexico.

The 31-year-old fed the customers lies about why he could not carry out the work, once even claiming his daughter was in a car crash – he does not have any children.

He took deposits totalling £47,900 on building projects in East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove. His victims included two elderly sisters caring for their sick husbands, a retired couple and a resident in social housing. He carried out minimal work on two properties and failed to start work on the remaining five homes.

An East Sussex Trading Standards investigation prompted him to plead guilty to committing fraud seven times between August 2014 and June 2016. Two victims obtained county court judgments against him, but he moved away so bailiffs could not enforce them.

Penfold, of New Road, Uckfield, was given a 30-month custodial sentence at Lewes Crown Court on December 15. The court was told he had a previous caution for fraud. He once attempted to persuade HMRC to give him a £6 million VAT refund.

East Sussex county councillor Bill Bentley said he was “despicable”.