Preston trader Billee Hopkinson to be sentenced at Preston Crown Court

35-year-old Billee Hopkinson of Tag Lane, Ingol, appeared at Preston Magistrates Court on January 16 2023 faced with three charges from The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations Act 2008.

The first two counts were for knowingly or recklessly engaging in a commercial practice which contravenes the requirements of professional diligence under regulation 3(3)(a), between the period of August 31 2020 to July 17 2021, and September 6 2021 to November 30 2021 respectively.

The third was for engaging in a commercial practice which is a misleading omission under regulation 6 on January 24 2022.

Hopkinson indicated a guilty plea for all three charges, and is set to appear at Preston Crown Court this morning for a sentencing hearing.

The penalty for such offences will be a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum.

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Hopkinson first featured in the Post when a former customer, Tony Carey, said he had handed over £6,200 ahead of a project on his house, before Ultra Restore pulled down large parts of his existing extension but never returned to finish the job.

Since then, two other disgruntled customers came forward. Anup Raj says he spent £26,000 on unfinished construction work before Ultra Restore went into a liquidation on December 31 2021, and mum-of-three Katie Sowerby says she lost £17,000.

When confronted by the Post last year, Hopkinson said had been unfairly criticised and was the victim of rising costs in the building trade, which meant he had to pass some extra costs to his customers after agreeing an original price.

Following Hopkinson’s appearance at Magistrates in January, Katie Sowerby, the victim from the second charge, said: “The charges won't get me my money back or take away the pain he has caused my family and others but people will now see him for what we all found him out to be last year.”

Meanwhile, Tony told the Post: “I’m pleased to see Billee is being prosecuted, I think he should be forced to sell his house to repay the people he’s taken money from. Billee has no business being in the building trade.”