An ‘unskilled and unsophisticated’ Haverfordwest handyman’s attempted fence repairs cost him more than £2,000 following a court appearance.

Denzil Michael Thomas, of St Mark’s Close, Merlin’s Bridge, pleaded guilty to four charges relating to consumer protection regulations when he appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates on Monday, February 11.

Two charges of fraud by false representation were withdrawn.

The bench heard that a 69 year-old woman approached Thomas and asked him to fix her fence, by replacing four wooden panels and fixing posts.

Thomas took a deposit, but failed to provide her with full documentation about the service to be provided, or give a 14 day cooling-off period.

After completion, the woman noticed that the new post was leaning towards her property, pulling the fence panels with it.

Jeff Harries, prosecuting on behalf of Pembrokeshire County Council, said: “On closer inspection she found she was not satisfied with the quality of the work.”

Thomas responded several weeks later and offered to refund her money.

A council inspector found that the post had not been set deeply enough and was in crumbling material rather than concrete.

Mr Harries added that Thomas had previous similar convictions.

Stuart John, defending, said: “It is abundantly clear that the work fell below the required standards, in that the fence fell down shortly afterwards.

“This was a substandard job carried out by Mr Thomas, who is an unskilled and unsophisticated individual.”

Mr John added that Thomas was a handyman who carried out odd jobs, not a qualified tradesman, and was unable to read or write.

“The job was started in good faith, what he did not do was provide the necessary paperwork.”

Magistrates fined Thomas £400 and ordered him to pay £880 compensation, a £30 surcharge and £1,000 costs.