Suspended sentence for laundering Jericho rogue builder's cash

Sentencing, Judge Nigel Daly commented on Douglas Dawson’s apparent failure to keep any paperwork, which had helped frustrate attempts to find the builder, and suggested that HM Revenue and Customs might be interested in the Hertfordshire man’s business affairs.

But he questioned why the 25-year-old should enjoy ‘free accommodation, three meals a day, TV’ paid for by the state that ‘you decide not to pay your taxes to’.

Imposing an 18 month jail term suspended for two years, the judge acidly observed that any further offending – including failing to pay tax or not keeping health and safety records – would see him sent inside.

READ MORE: Full story of 'James the Builder' and the scaffolder who laundered £75k

In January, jurors at Oxford Crown Court found him guilty of three counts of money laundering.

Over a matter of weeks between January 7 and February 13, 2020, he had £75,000 paid into his bank account by the victims of a mystery rogue trader named in court as ‘James the Builder’.

He withdrew almost £70,000 in cash and handed it over to the builder, who he said had told him that there were problems with his own bank account.

Dawson kept £5,100 for himself, telling jurors that it was payment for other scaffolding jobs he had done for ‘James’. 

Three men photographed when the scaffolding was removed. Douglas Dawson (left). The firm Moat was completely unconnected to the case, with the defendant telling the jury that such tabards were just picked up Picture: Oxfordshire County Council (Image: Oxfordshire County Council)

The victims of the fraud, emeritus professor of classics at Oxford University Nigel Wilson and his Varsity wine tasting team coach Dr Hanneke Wilson, were left thousands of pounds out of pocket after they were swindled into having roofing works done on their property in Jericho.

During the trial, Prof Wilson told jurors of becoming a victim of fraud: “One might say it was a bit of a lapse, but one does tend to take people on trust until one has some reason to doubt their credibility.”

Judge Daly referenced the pre-sentence report written by a probation officer after the trial. In it, the judge said, Dawson accepted the money laundering operation was ‘not normal and there was something untoward going on but decided to ignore your suspicions because you didn’t want to lose scaffolding work’.

“In giving evidence you said you were young and naïve. You now accept you were stupid,” the judge added.

“It’s all very well to say you are remorseful now. You may well be, but you carried on doing this and turning a blind eye to what was going on.”

READ MORE: How Jericho couple fell victim to rogue builder

He gave the defendant a lecture on the importance of paying his taxes, saying the country ‘relied’ on people paying their share. The defendant had received treatment at the Great Ormond Street Hospital as a child, Judge Daly said. “How do you suppose that was paid for?”

In mitigation, Dawson was said to ‘regard the prospect of going to prison with something approaching abject terror’.

He was remorseful, his brief said, and had described ‘James the Builder’s’ scam as a ‘disgusting’ crime.

Two character references spoke of him as ‘honest and trustworthy’. He lived with his grandparents, who relied on him for support.

Dawson, of Hornbeam Way, Waltham Cross, was ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work and pay £4,000 in compensation to the Wilsons.