A BUILDER convicted for overcharging a couple after performing sub-standard work at their home is meeting a judge’s repayment plan.

Simon Stephen McLean was told to pay the customers £1,000 per month or risk a prison sentence when he appeared at Durham Crown Court, in May last year.

The couple, in their 60s, were said to have been left £33,000 out of pocket through the activities of McLean, who engaged in extension work on their home in Murton, without informing them he was bankrupt, in 2015.

McLean, now 41, of The Hollow, Howden-le-Wear, admitted consumer protection charges brought by Durham County Council.

Judge Christopher Prince ordered him to pay the couple £1,000 a month from his earnings, by then, as a driver for a transport company, for up to 15 months, with the threat of a prison sentence if he failed, as part of a deferred sentence.

Less than two months before the sentence hearing, the court was told those payments have been maintained, with only a couple slightly late.

Judge Prince told McLean to maintain them or it would be “reflected in sentence” when he returns to learn his fate, on September 13.