A man has been sentenced after taking over £21,000 from a man in Congleton for an illegitimate 'building project'.

Danny Quinn, 39, received an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years at Chester Crown Court on Monday 12 January 2026. He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

His sentencing follows an earlier hearing where Quinn, of Cransley Road, Kettering, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft.

During his hearing, the court was told that Quinn had received a total of over £21,850 for an illegitimate 'building project' from a 76-year-old man from Congleton.

Detective Constable Sarah Newton, who led the investigation into Quinn's offending, said: "Danny Quinn exploited a vulnerable person under the guise that he would be completing building and maintenance work at his home.

"Despite claiming that he repaired a garden wall, power-washed a driveway, lifted and re-laid part of it, regularly mowed lawns and trimmed hedges, he could not say when he did what or how much he charged for each service. Not only this, but some of the work he did do, remained incomplete.

"Quinn also claimed not to have any recollection of telling the victim he would be investing his money into a 'building project' and claims the victim offered to lend him money because he was facing financial difficulties.

"Our investigation proved his claims otherwise, with mobile messages referring to the project that, supposedly, required the victims' money."

In October 2022, the victim's bank contacted Cheshire Police to flag concerns about large transactions being made from his account.

It was uncovered that on 21 March 2022, Quinn knocked on the victim's door, offering to do gardening work for him.

Over the next month, the victim paid Quinn over £12,000 to complete work for him. Some of the work was completed to a satisfactory standard, but some of the work remained incomplete.

A few days later, the 39-year-old, called the victim and stated that he had forgotten to include a VAT rate on one of the payments and needed an extra £1,000, which the victim subsequently paid.

In May, Quinn contacted the victim again and told him that he was involved in a building project, asking if he wanted to invest money for a return on his investment.

A spokesperson for Cheshire Police said: "Between May and September, the victim handed over a total of £21,850 to Quinn towards this project and never received any details as to what it was."

When restrictions were placed on the victim's bank account, due to the scale of the transactions, Quinn asked the victim to continue sending money from an alternative account.

After the investigation was launched, Quinn would contact the victim on a withheld number and told him to tell the police that the money he had sent over had been sent in good faith.

The victim told investigating officers that he felt under pressure to pay the money and was told by Quinn that he had two other investors alongside him, who were at risk of losing their investments.

Quinn was arrested on 7 December 2022, and during his interview with police, he admitted that he was the individual who had received the money from the victim.

However, he denied using the money for investment projects, claiming that it was for tool hire, building materials, and transportation. Despite claiming he had not done anything wrong, he would be subsequently charged.

Detective Constable Sarah Newton added: "Thankfully, his offending has been brought to a conclusion, with Quinn pleading guilty to the charges facing him and being ordered to complete over 200 hours of work, for which he will not be paid.

"I hope this case serves as a reminder to people to report any similar offences, we will do all we can to support victims in cases like this. You can report information or suspicions online or by calling 101."