A son was forced to put his parents into a care home after a bogus workman left a gaping hole in their ceiling and ran away with his money.
Paul McArdle, 52, had moved back into his parents’ house in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, after his mother, Patricia, and later his father, James, were diagnosed with dementia.
After noticing a leak in the property’s roof, Paul hired workman William Watt to carry out repairs.
But after completing just half a job, the bogus worker never returned to finish the repair and instead kept the cash for himself.
With the roof continuing to deteriorate throughout 2021 and Watt dodging Paul’s calls, the son could no longer afford to have the roof fixed – and was given no choice but to move his two vulnerable parents into a care home.
‘The ceiling had partially collapsed and there was water seeping through the light fitting in my room,’ he said.
‘I kept calling him, telling him how bad it was. Then by December I’d had enough and asked for my money back.’
The matter was later reported to the police and after an investigation the following year, Watt pleaded guilty to a charge of theft.
He was ordered to pay out £2,760 in compensation within 12 months when he was sentenced at Greenock Sheriff Court last year.
Unfortunately, Paul’s dad died in October 2024. At the time of his death, Watt hadn’t paid any money back, with the first payment of £500 eventually made in January 2025.
Paul said that putting his parents into a care home was ‘one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do’.
‘This court case had a massive impact on them and had a massive impact on me,’ he added.
‘I’m suffering with depression, stress and anxiety. For a long time I was adamant that they weren’t going to go in a care home.
‘Mum and dad didn’t want to go onto a care home either, but they had to.
‘If he had carried out the repair back in 2021 when he should have done, I think they could have stayed in the house another two years.’
Paul’s parents moved into Newark Care Home a short distance away – but Paul said that he believed his dad was still hopeful of moving back home prior to his death.
‘I visited him just after he had been diagnosed,’ Paul continued, ‘and he asked “how was the roof damage?”
‘Then another day we had another conversation and he said “this is going to take a long time” and he got very upset.
‘My mum and dad were the life and soul of this house. Now it is just soulless.
‘My mum still recognises me and she cries when I visit her and she cries when I leave. It breaks my heart.’
Paul says the house is still without hot water because of damage caused to the boiler by the leaking roof, and that he has to sleep in the living room because of dampness in his bedroom.
Paul is now working for a tech company and hopes to save enough by the end of the years to make the roof wind and watertight.
‘When a case calls in court,’ he said, ‘people don’t know the full story of the emotional impact on the victims.
‘He gave this sob story that he was so ashamed. So why didn’t he come up and fix the roof for free?’
Watt still has two months to complete payment of the compensation.
Watt’s solicitor, Gerry Keenan, told last June’s sentencing hearing that his client, who appeared as a first offender, was ‘very remorseful’ and was ‘anxious to make restitution so that the complainer is not out of pocket’.
In addition to the compensation order, Watt was told to carry out 135 hours of unpaid work and was put under social work supervision for 12 months.