A rogue builder who left homeowners facing rain pouring through cracked ceilings after abandoning unfinished projects has been jailed after taking around £1 million from victims.

Patrick Damien Hartley, 52, was branded one of the “most prolific and heartless” fraudsters Lancashire County Council had ever encountered.

The builder defrauded 13 households across north-west England of more than £700,000. Many victims were then forced to spend thousands of pounds extra to complete or repair the work he had left unfinished.

In one distressing video, rain can be seen hammering onto a homeowner’s kitchen table. Other footage shows barely completed extensions, with rubbish and building debris scattered across the floors.

Photographs taken by victims also showed homes left supported on stilts, while scaffolding remained standing beside walls with no windows.

Lancashire County Council began prosecuting Hartley after homeowners reported him to the authority in September 2022.

Investigators found that he had repeatedly taken thousands of pounds for work he failed to complete. Earlier this year, Hartley pleaded guilty to fraud and consumer protection offences committed between 2020 and 2023.

He was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison at Preston Crown Court, although victims said they believed the punishment was too lenient.

Phillippa Edgar, 48, paid Hartley almost £100,000 over eight months to build a single-storey rear extension and a double-storey side garage extension at her home in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

The mother of two had originally agreed a deal worth about £105,000, with the construction expected to take just ten weeks.

Instead, the renovation was abandoned before it could be completed. Ms Edgar was left having to spend up to £89,000 on remedial work to make the building safe and ensure it complied with regulations.

She said: “This was supposed to be our dream home, but it became anything but that.

“The situation was incredibly stressful and upsetting. It affected everything from my children’s school lives to my marriage.

“Hartley is a conman who knew exactly what he was doing. Lie after lie was given to explain why the work had not been finished.

“He eventually left the extensions as two brick shells and took our hard-earned money.

“He left the roof open to the rain, which flooded into our house. We had to set up a pump to remove as much water as possible.

“Hartley is a horrid man who deserves to rot in prison.”

Another victim was Joanne Dagostina, 42, who in November 2021 was provided a quote of £34,800 for an extension and fitted kitchen at her semi-detached three-bed home in Oldham, Greater Manchester.

Work started in January 2022 but further jobs were later agreed, including the installation of a damp proof course to the existing property and a new bathroom.

But by August 2022 Ms Dagostina decided to sack Hartley, having already paid him £64,216. 

It was only after a structural engineer came to the house that she found out he hadn’t installed any steel beams. It meant the woman’s roof could collapse ‘at any moment’.

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Ms Dagostina said: ‘The blatant lack of care and disrespect to put my family in danger is unforgivable.

‘The engineer told me the extension ceiling was failing by 200 per cent and to prop it as soon as possible.

‘He said it would collapse if we didn’t and if it did it would take the next-door neighbours with it – I was furious.

‘I am disappointed with his sentencing as to me it was premeditated and he knew how to take advantage.’

Pelin Akin, 49, and Wellington Tsang, 55, also fell victim to Hartley, losing over £105,000 in the process. 

They approached him for a loft conversion with a dormer window as well as a driveway at their three-bed house in Sale, Greater Manchester.

Hartley quoted £48,000 with the work starting in April 2021, but by June the Senior Travel Consultant said construction had ‘slowed down’ before he left the site in early 2022.

He said the renovations would take eight weeks to complete. Including other agreed work, Ms Akin paid him £47,500 but had ‘no roof and an empty attic to show for it’.

The family has since had the building work completed by a reputable trader at a cost of £59,000.

Approximately £8,000 of that expense was used to correct Hartley’s work and bring it into compliance with building control requirements.

She said: ‘The excuses he gave for the work not being completed were ridiculous – they included his workers being drunk and his and the van needing its MoT.

‘Hartley started with being very accommodating.

‘But when we started challenging him for why he wasn’t on the site his messages became more threatening.

‘My work suffered, I was signed off with stress. I added lots of cameras and security to our home just in case he or his representatives decided to visit us.

‘I am starting to relax knowing that he is behind bars.’

More victims included a couple in Bacup, Lancashire, who were left devastated when their plans to take in an elderly relative and provide her with end-of-life care went wrong when Hartley failed to complete an extension for her.

The homeowner’s mother spent her final days in the front room of the property, which had no heating or hot water.

The Lancashire Trading Standards investigation into Hartley was assisted by officers from other local authorities, GMP and Lancashire Constabulary.

He was charged with criminal offences involving 13 different households in Lancashire and Greater Manchester in 2023. 

Then, in March 2024, he formally entered not guilty pleas to 26 offences under the Fraud Act 2006 and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and his case was listed for trial in June 2025.

In May 2025, he pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006 and three counts under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Alongside his prison sentence, Hartley was given a seven-year criminal behaviour order stopping him from owning a business which takes part in private building work.

His case is currently the subject of confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, according to the Trading Standards.

Councillor Joshua Roberts, cabinet member for Rural Affairs, Environment and Communities, described Hartley as ‘one of the most prolific and heartless fraudsters’ that the council has come across.

Donald Trump said Monday that Russia had “lost control” of its diesel industry following a Ukrainian assault, even as his own conflict with Iran pushed US fuel prices to record levels.

“A large number of their Diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of commission,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“This ridiculous and never ending War with Ukraine must be ended,” he added, claiming that 25,000 people—“mostly soldiers”—were being killed each month. “What a shame!”

Trump’s post came hours after he urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop Kyiv’s attacks on Russian refineries during a phone call on Sunday, the Financial Times reported.

The president’s repeated message during the conversation was “diesel, diesel . . . diesel,” a senior Ukrainian official told the newspaper. A second official said Trump wanted Russian fuel to return to global markets in an effort to bring prices down.

Trump said a week earlier that Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to halt attacks on one another’s energy facilities. He blamed the worldwide diesel price surge on the war in Ukraine rather than his conflict with Iran. Ukrainian officials, however, said no such ceasefire had been reached.

US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passage normally used to transport roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil. According to AAA, the average US diesel price reached a record $6.51 on Monday, up from approximately $3.76 before the war.

The fuel shock has created a growing political problem for Republicans just weeks before the midterm elections. Diesel is especially important to the broader economy because it powers the trucks, trains and farm equipment used to transport food and other goods.

Trump’s call with Zelensky took place hours after Ukraine carried out what Russian officials described as the largest drone attack ever recorded against Moscow. The assault set a major oil refinery on fire and killed at least two people.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian forces had shot down 450 drones.

Ukrainian drone units have increasingly focused on the complex distillation towers at Russian refineries. These structures are among the most time-consuming parts of a refinery to repair.

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The attacks have taken roughly one-third of Russia’s refining capacity offline, forcing Moscow to limit refined-fuel exports and import supplies from India.

The pressure on energy markets is intensifying as the conflict with Iran spreads into Yemen, where Saudi Arabia urged Trump over the weekend to strike Iran-backed Houthi targets.

The New York Times reported that Trump pulled back at the last moment on Sunday, as US commanders prepared targets and troops stood ready with missiles locked and loaded.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized territory in Yemen during weekend clashes with Saudi-backed forces. The fighting has added to concerns about shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital corridor for global energy supplies.

The route has taken on greater importance as the conflict disrupts other energy corridors, including Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, which transports Aramco oil around the Strait of Hormuz.

Putin said this month he had ordered his forces to prepare a mass air strike campaign in retaliation for Kyiv’s attacks on Russian energy sites.

‘They are hitting ours. They’ll get an answer. That’s basically how it is,’ he said.

Putin is unlikely to agree to an energy truce before winter, when his forces are expected to resume attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, people briefed on his thinking told the FT.

One senior Ukrainian official told the FT that Trump may be holding the sweeping Russia sanctions law he signed last week as leverage to get Kyiv to stop the refinery strikes. 

Zelensky, who meets Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, defended the campaign Monday, calling the strikes ‘part of the pressure that is actually working and the world can feel it.’ 

Pressure is building on Labour to introduce wealth taxes in the Budget, despite warnings that targeting high earners and investors could ultimately reduce government revenues.

Dale Vince, the millionaire green-energy businessman and Labour donor, has called for capital gains tax (CGT) to be increased.

He argues that raising CGT, while ending interest payments made to commercial banks on their deposits at the Bank of England, could help finance a higher personal tax allowance for millions of people across the UK.

However, Chancellor John Healey has been warned that imposing another tax burden on wealth creators could prove damaging, with critics claiming it may drive investment away and further weaken the tax take as wealthy individuals consider leaving Britain.

Andy Burnham and Mr Healey are under growing pressure to find ways to balance the public finances while meeting expensive spending commitments.

The conflict in the Middle East is thought to have consumed a significant portion of the Chancellor’s financial headroom for achieving his fiscal goals.

Mr Burnham, meanwhile, has highlighted his focus on easing the cost-of-living squeeze as rising energy bills push inflation higher and the Bank of England prepares to increase interest rates for mortgage borrowers.

At last week’s annual TUC conference, trade unions repeatedly called on ministers to raise more money from banks and wealthy taxpayers.

In his submission ahead of the October 28 Budget, Mr Vince said matching capital gains tax rates with income tax rates — reaching as high as 45 per cent — could raise £14billion.

He said that, combined with ending interest payments to commercial banks, the proposal could generate enough money to lift the personal allowance by roughly £3,000, taking it to £15,570 a year.

That figure would be just below the level the allowance might have reached if it had not been frozen in 2021.

Describing the current tax system as ‘backwards’, Mr Vince urged ministers to ‘put money into the pockets of the people who will spend it’ in an effort to stimulate economic growth.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: ‘It will cost £20billion actually to restore the income tax freeze, which is really robbing people, particularly hard-working people.

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‘We pay interest to the banks every year totalling about £30billion. You know, the banks that don’t really pay us any money for our deposits with them. We, through the Bank of England, pay them 4 per cent at the moment for the money that they’re sitting on… £30billion, take that back, pay for the income tax allowance, and have £10billion in change.’

Yet Treasury estimates suggest that increasing CGT by 10 percentage points could have the opposite effect, reducing receipts by £3.5billion by 2028-29.

Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake described a CGT increase as potentially ‘the dumbest economic policy of all time’.

‘The clue is in the name — Capital Gains Tax — means gains on capital that you’ve invested and put at risk,’ he said.

‘Tax it as if there’s no risk involved and fewer people will invest. Bad for jobs, bad for the economy.’

Mr Hollinrake insisted it would also be ‘bad for tax receipts’.

‘You only pay CGT when you sell stuff, so people who’ve invested and own stuff already will defer selling stuff until a future govt sees sense and lowers CGT,’ he added. ‘Utterly stupid sixth-form economics.’ 

Former Conservative Treasury minister David Gauke also cast doubt on whether the policy would work.

Sir David told BBC Radio 4: ‘Anything that sounds too good to be true is almost certainly too good to be true. 

‘I’m very sceptical that you can raise that sort of money from the banking sector, without it having a significant impact on competitiveness, a significant impact on lending to small businesses in particular.’

He added: ‘There isn’t, I’m afraid, an easy answer whether that’s the banking sector or a few high net worth individuals, our tax system is already very dependent upon the very wealthy. I’m afraid that answers that sort of sound terrific and mean ordinary people are unaffected are not going to be credible.’

Cindy Crawford’s son revealed that he had been “absolutely terrified” before undergoing a controversial treatment aimed at helping him overcome addiction, in a poignant post shared before his death.

Presley Gerber, who had faced longstanding struggles with drugs and his mental health, died at a rehabilitation centre yesterday at the age of 27.

Earlier this year, he documented undergoing a “Pre-ibogaine flood dose” at a treatment clinic in Mexico. The procedure involved a single, high-dose administration of ibogaine, a naturally occurring psychoactive substance.

Ibogaine is derived from an African shrub and is reported to help ease withdrawal symptoms. The high-dose treatment is intended to produce a profound “reset.”

Presley’s parents, supermodel Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber, along with his sister Kaia, praised his “courage” after he shared details of beginning the treatment in March.

Crawford commented: “You are a warrior! Walked thru the fire to find yourself! So proud!” Kaia added: “That’s my brother I am so damn proud.”

Rande wrote: “I’m so proud of you and your courage. Facing what’s hard takes real strength and watching you find your way back to yourself is everything. I love you so much.”

Ibogaine is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance in the United States. However, it is legal or available by prescription in countries including Canada and Brazil, and is administered at specialised clinics in Mexico.

Presley praised Beond Ibogaine in Cancun, where treatment begins at $12,500 for a ten-day programme. He described its staff as an “incredible, caring, kind and on-their-s*** team.”

In a video caption, Presley wrote: “I was absolutely terrified, and I knew I would be again if I ever had to face something like this (helps to not go into the situations you do that get ya there but that’s life sometimes.)

“My mantras were love yourself and this gotta be the last time for this reason. Letting go of control didn’t come easy, but I trusted there was something bigger than me guiding it.

“I knew why I was there. I faced what I had been running from, and somewhere in all of it, I started finding my way back to myself… We shall see… Praying it’s the last time I have to come back.

“Next time I’d like to choose. And absolutely can’t forget the incredible caring, kind and on-their-s*** team. Helps a lot haha. And I made some dope ass friends there #iboga #ibogaine #rewireyourbrain #loveyourself #mentalhealth.”

Beond Ibogaine responded at the time: “Thank you for sharing this so openly. We know how much courage that moment takes, and we’re really proud of you for facing it with so much honesty and heart. It was an honor to support you.”

The Beond Ibogaine website states: “Ingesting a large enough dose induces a temporary psychedelic experience that can last several hours, normally with no significant side-effects.

“For hundreds of years, indigenous African peoples… have ingested large doses of ibogaine in its raw root bark form for its spiritual and healing properties.

“Over the past 30 years, ibogaine has been administered in various clinics around the world for medical treatment purposes, most often to treat drug dependence.”

Despite its ban, public figures including singer Melissa Etheridge – who lost her 21-year-old son Beckett to a fentanyl overdose in 2020 – and Khloe Kardashian’s ex husband Lamar Odom have endorsed Ibogaine’s benefits.

Joe Rogan described ibogaine on a January episode of his podcast, saying, ‘It is in no way recreational. It is a very difficult experience. It’s not fun for anybody. It’s like a 24-hour trip.’

‘I haven’t done it, but my friends that have done it say that it’s basically like, you see your entire life play out before you. You see where all your problems come from, you see where all of your emotional hitches are.’ 

A Stanford University study published in January 2024 reported that ibogaine significantly improved symptoms of anxiety and depression in 30 veterans.

According to the Washington Post, ibogaine became outlawed in America in 1967.

‘It heals the brain,’ neurologist Deborah Mash explained to the publication in March 2024, noting that the substance rewires the organ by promoting growth of ‘neural networks in damaged brains.’

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said Presley died on Sunday at a rehab facility in a devastating end to a battle he had increasingly laid bare in brutally candid social media posts. His cause of death was not revealed. 

A spokesman for Ms Crawford told the Daily Mail: ‘The family is asking for privacy during this very difficult and painful time.’ 

The tragedy cuts short the life of a model who had seemingly been destined to follow his famous mother into fashion from an early age.

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Presley started modeling at age 15 and was featured in campaigns for fashion labels such as Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein. He was signed to IMG models and appeared in a 2018 Pepsi ad with his mother.

He also struggled with mental health at a young age and was arrested for driving under the influence in 2019.

Last month, Presley’s sister Kaia revealed how his drug use and mental health struggles had affected their family.

‘When something like that happens in a family, it kind of levels everyone,’ she told Vogue.

Last November, Presley revealed he had taken a step back from social media to ‘take care of my own mental health for a bit’.

One month later, he opened up about his personal life in a candid social media video. He listed medication he takes for ‘night terrors’ and ‘panic attacks’.

‘I feel like honesty is the best policy,’ he began before sharing that he was on 1mg of Buprenorphine, used to treat both pain and opioid use disorders, twice a day.

Presley also shared that the ‘benzos have been fluctuating up and down depending on what’s been going on in my life’.

Benzodiazepines help ‘slow down activity in your brain and nervous system’ to treat ‘anxiety and related mental health conditions’, per Cleveland Clinic.

‘Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of loss in many different forms recently, so that is not an excuse, but it’s the reason why I am where I’m at now,’ he shared.

He did not go into detail about the ‘loss’ he referenced, but went on to explain that he also takes a dose of Xanax at night or when his ‘panic attacks are really, really bad’.

The model then listed Valium, admitting that he didn’t know exactly how much he’d been taking as he said, ‘Who f****** knows any more.’

He noted in the Instagram reel that ‘doctors say a lot of different things so it’s kind of scary. But hopefully between my research and their research and the world and God, we can finally figure this out.’

Presley also talked about the lack of ‘direction’ he has from doctors when it comes to his medication.

‘I’d like doctors to be like, “Take this three times a day.” But every psychiatrist I’ve had – and I’ve had 15 – are like, “Here’s 20 medications and take this if you feel like this, take this as needed.”

‘And I’m like, “No, don’t give me that much leeway.” I need some direction,’ he continued.

Kaia told Vogue that witnessing her brother’s honesty was ‘refreshing’.

‘My parents for most of our lives were very, very private and didn’t share anything – and now we have this absolute teacher, my brother, who says, “I’m gonna be very human for everyone.” There’s only so much you can hide from the world,’ she said.

‘And trying to put a lid on something just makes the person feel like you’re ashamed of them.’ 

Brooklyn Beckham and Paris Hilton led tributes to their friend on Monday. Brooklyn took to Instagram to share an image showing him and Presley posing together alongside the caption: ‘I am so heartbroken. Presley you were the kindest and we are going to miss you so much x we love you.’

Paris commented on the model’s final Instagram post just hours before news of his passing, before posting an Instagram story of herself with Presley with the caption: ‘I’m completely heartbroken. I still can’t believe this is real…

‘Presley, you were such a beautiful soul. So sweet, sensitive, kind and genuine. I cared about you so much, and I’m going to miss you more than words can say.’

Brooklyn took to Instagram to share an image showing him and Presley posing together alongside the caption: ‘I am so heartbroken. Presley you were the kindest and we are going to miss you somuch x we love you.’

Only hours before news of his shock passing came to light, Paris had commented on the final post, which saw him modeling clothes from the brand Vuori. She wrote: ‘Love you bro,’ she wrote with a heart-face emoji and the heart hands emoji.

The Hills star Brody also posted on Presley’s final Instagram post from last month to share a dove and broken heart emoji with the words: ‘love you brother’.