A bankrupt builder from Derby has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for illegally obtaining more than £400,000 from victims across the Midlands, leaving families in uninhabitable conditions.
A Trail of Broken Trust and Unfinished Homes
Nigel Dinneen, 72, of Duesbury Court, Mickleover, Derby, secured advance payments from five separate victims for home improvement projects. He failed to inform any of them that he had been declared bankrupt, a legal requirement when obtaining credit of £500 or more. The total sum he acquired through this deception was £414,594.
Dinneen was sentenced at Derby Crown Court on Thursday, January 15, 2026, following a detailed investigation by the Insolvency Service. His crimes spanned from 2019 into 2020, exploiting the trust of homeowners who paid him substantial deposits for extensions and renovations.
Families Left in 'Unliveable' Conditions
The human cost of Dinneen's fraud was laid bare in victim impact statements heard by the court. One father from Leicester described how his family's life was devastated after paying Dinneen for a £40,000 extension in the summer of 2019.
"We have lost five years of being a family," the victim stated. "Our children were sleeping on the floor between building materials. We were secured at the rear of the property with a tarpaulin to keep the elements and the cold out." He added that the family would be repaying debts to fix and complete the botched work until 2029.
Another victim, a healthcare worker on the Covid frontline, signed a contract with Dinneen in December 2019. He paid in advance for work in Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire, but was soon dealing with building disasters alongside the pressures of pandemic work. The project caused neighbourhood disputes due to overflowing skips attracting rodents, and was eventually left incomplete.
Systematic Fraud and Further Offences
The court heard how Dinneen's fraud was systematic. Another victim in Nuneaton paid almost £90,000 in advance between May 2019 and September 2020 for a two-storey extension. A Loughborough homeowner paid over £75,000 for an extension and bathroom conversion in August 2019, while a final victim in Market Bosworth paid nearly £50,000 for a bungalow extension in December 2019.
Dinneen also committed perjury by lying to the Official Receiver, the official who investigates bankruptcies. Enquiries revealed he had operated several undeclared bank accounts, including one where all the payments from his victims were deposited.
David Snasdell, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: "Dinneen ruined people’s lives, taking their savings and leaving some of them in what can only be described as unliveable conditions. He showed a complete disregard for the law and for the victims who trusted him."
Mr Snasdell emphasised that bankruptcy rules exist to protect the public and warned that the Insolvency Service will pursue criminal prosecution against those who break the law by obtaining credit while bankrupt.
