'Prolific' cowboy builder guilty of £1.25m fraud

A "prolific rogue trader" who lured customers in with his "charm and charisma" has been found guilty of a £1.25m fraud.

Mark Killick, who also operated under the names Marc Cole and Mark Jenkins, failed to complete building work at properties across the West of England between June 2020 and November 2021.

The 56-year-old, of Shoe Lane in Paulton, Somerset, was found guilty of the 37 counts of fraud and cleared of one at Bristol Crown Court. The jury failed to reach a verdict on eight further charges against him.

The prosecution highlighted Killick's spending on luxury goods, including a £25,000 Rolex watch which he claimed was an asset for the failing business.

Avon and Somerset Police and Trading Standards received more than 100 complaints against Killick covering a period between 2019 and 2021.

Martyn Nicklin, from Bristol Trading Standards, said Killick offered people their "dream extension" or renovation, which he started but frequently left "completely unfinished".

He described Killick as an "excellent salesperson" who used his "charisma and charm" to defraud people.

"I think he is still one of the most prolific rogue traders that we've ever dealt with, if not the most prolific," he said.

"Certainly the scale, the number of victims, the financial impact; the harm that he's caused is vast," he added.

Mark Killick's trial at Bristol Crown Court began in May 2025 and lasted until 10 October, with about three months of evidence.

A reporting restriction imposed by the judge prevented media reporting the result of the case until now.

Killick is due to be sentenced in December, with the judge having already told him a "lengthy custodial sentence is inevitable".

Killick claimed in court he intended to run an honest business but was hampered by factors beyond his control - including a shortage of workers due to the pandemic and England doing well in the Euros championship.

He was involved in a car accident on the M5 on 17 May 2021, which he used repeatedly as an excuse for delays.

The prosecution said Killick spent money on overnight stays at luxury resorts, which he claimed were business trips.

He also bought expensive jewellery which included a £25,000 Rolex Submariner watch he purchased from a jeweller in Bath in August 2020, just days after he had been given a £50,000 Covid bounceback loan.

Killick took on at least two new customers per week on average during 2020 and 2021, some just weeks before he placed TD Cole into liquidation.

In a video shown in court, one of Killick's co-directors confronted him about taking large deposits when the company was in financial trouble.

In it, Killick can be heard saying: "We've lost everything. We've lost every penny, and that's it. It's all gone."

Killick has a decades-long criminal record.

In 2006, he was handed a 12-year Bankruptcy Restriction Order which prevented him getting more than £500 credit without revealing the order.

He went on to plead guilty to fraud in 2008, 2009 and 2014.

The 2014 conviction involved 42 victims, whose losses he accepted at £573,000.

He has had six custodial sentences, including three for unspecified crimes in magistrates' courts in the 1990s, according to the Ministry of Justice.

His latest fraud trial heard evidence from 46 customers, some of whom said they felt pressured into handing over large sums of money. Work was either never finished or never started.

Many customers tried to verify Killick's background but were unable to do so because he had changed his name and trading name many times.