A woman who was among a number of victims of a cowboy builder has said she enjoyed the “karma” of seeing him locked up for six years.

Most of Alfie Ackleton’s unsuspecting customers were elderly or vulnerable, but 29-year-old mum Nikita Broadbridge knew of him as he drank in her mother’s pub in Lower Halstow.

Ackleton, 35, admitted running a fraudulent business for 18 months and eight separate charges of conning people out of a total of £323,000 – all to fund his gambling addiction.

Mrs Broadbridge was conned out of £5,000 in savings for landscaping her garden, including a patio, decking and driveway.

Mrs Broadbridge, who lives with husband Nick, a fire alarm installer, and their daughter in Cranford Close, Rainham, said hearing the news of Ackleton’s jailing made her day. “A bit of karma is quite nice,” she added.

“He kept telling us he would do it, but then would text saying his son had been rushed to hospital, that he’d broken up with his wife, even that he had been arrested for driving without headlights." - Nikita Broadbridge

The couple paid Ackleton £2,000 in June 2014 for building materials, but the work never started, and made excuses for the delays.

Mrs Broadbridge said: “He kept telling us he would do it, but then would text saying his son had been rushed to hospital, that he’d broken up with his wife, even that he had been arrested for driving without headlights.

“Then he’d want more money in bits. He asked us to pay up front for some sand, which he said he’d take off the end bill, and he asked for more up front because his digger broke.

“One day a skip turned up on our drive, so we thought ‘oh, work is finally starting’. But still nothing happened. It had no writing on it, and in the end we had to pay to get it removed.

"It’s just evil, and my little girl didn’t have a garden for a year, all through summer as well.”

The family paid somebody else to do the work, and agreed with Ackleton that he would refund them, but then they lost contact.

Mrs Broadbridge said: “We didn’t think he’d do us over, but he obviously doesn’t care who he does it to.”

She went to his mother’s house in an attempt to find him, to no avail, and then called the police. But because the family had not drawn up a formal contract with Ackleton, they were told nothing could be done.

Another victim handed over a quarter of a million pounds.

Ackleton, of Dickens Road, Gravesend, admitted one offence of participating in a fraudulent business between November 2012 and May 2014 in that he carried out unnecessary work, failed to carry out work for which he had been paid, quoted excessive amounts and refused to rectify works not completed in a satisfactory manner. He also pleaded guilty to eight offences of fraud.

Ackleton started working as a builder eight years ago and the court was told even his wife described him as “not a very good one”. Adrian Rohard, defending, said he began gambling but “wasn’t very good at that”, and ended up in financial difficulties, adding: “Much of the motivation for the work he overcharged for was to fund that habit, to either pay debts or win money back.”