TV builder who salvaged ‘cowboy’ jobs wins case after accusation of shoddy work

A TV builder who helped victims of cowboy tradesmen on a hit BBC show has won a £500,000 court fight after his company was accused of leaving a boot print in paint work at a £1.2 million home.

Paul Shanahan, managing director of Greystoke Builders, featured in nine episodes of the BBC’s Cowboy Trap, in which he was called in to salvage botched jobs done by rogue operators.

But he ended up in court himself after his company was accused by African studies academic Dr Zohor Aylwin of leaving multiple defects following a £113,000 revamp at her home.

Dr Aylwin alleged multiple problems, including a shower too small to get under, a lavatory that didn’t flush properly and a boot print in paintwork.

After a trial at Mayor and City County Court, Judge Nicholas Parfitt KC threw out Dr Aylwin’s claim and ordered her to stump up £36,760 to cover the costs of the work. A decision on what proportions of the £460,000 lawyers’ bills each side will pay to be made at a later date.

He said there was no evidence the lavatory did not work, the shower fitting had been provided by Dr Aylwin, and that the boot print would have easily been solved.

Judge Parfitt said many of the alleged “defects” would have been picked up at the end of the work, but that Dr Aylwin had not engaged in a “sensible snagging process” after the parties fell out.

In online promotional material for Greystoke, Mr Shanahan describes “working with BBC1 as the good guys on the Cowboy Trap – going in and rectifying the disasters previous builders have left”.

But his company ended up in a legal fight with Moroccan culture expert Dr Zohor Aylwin after Greystoke carried out a £113,000 revamp on her £1.2 million home in the Oaks, Watford, in 2019.

The case began when Mr Shanahan’s company sued Dr Aylwin for unpaid invoices totalling about £44,000, with her then suing the company in return over an alleged series of defects in the work.

Her barrister, Ashley Pratt, said her complaints included sub-standard paintwork, including a step marked with a “boot print of the company’s employee”, problems with the newly fitted kitchen, and a toilet that failed to flush.

“The shower was clearly too short to fit under and was clearly unsuitable,” he added.

He said Dr Aylwin disputed the claim to the unpaid invoices, saying defects in the work effectively “extinguish” the building company’s bill.

But in court, Greystoke’s barrister Paul Fisher denied there was evidence of the defects alleged and highlighted the North London-based company’s “many years experience undertaking work of the nature undertaken at the property”.

He told the judge: “Indeed one of the company’s witnesses and directors, Mr Paul Shanahan, worked as an expert on the BBC television programme ‘Cowboy Trap’, in which his team sought to rectify and complete works in residential homes initially undertaken by ‘cowboy’ builders.”

‘Not been in good condition’

Mr Shanahan was personally engaged in the renovation works at Dr Aylwin’s home, the court heard, and had also negotiated the contract and “scope of works”.

Greystoke insisted its team did its utmost to carry out a successful overhaul of Dr Aylwin’s home and said the house had not been in a good condition when they went in.

The decor was in “visibly poor pre-existing condition”, said the barrister, adding that the previous poorly finished paintwork “clearly had an impact on the visual appearance of the claimant’s works”.

“The defects alleged by the defendants do not come close to a sum that would set off or nullify the total debt claimed by the claimant,” he told the judge.

Mr Fisher labelled the case a “relatively simple debt claim which has spiralled out of control by virtue of alleged but unsubstantiated defects that have been raised by the defendants”.

As a result, he said the relatively small-scale debt dispute had mushroomed into a three-day court action involving expert witnesses and with total legal costs projected at around £460,000.

Giving judgment, Judge Parfitt rejected Dr Aylwin’s counterclaim, saying that many of her criticisms would have been solved if she had engaged in snagging.

“There are a number of items which would have been fixed had a sensible snagging process been conducted,” he said.

“This was raised by Greystoke, but not provided by Dr Aylwin.”

Rejected criticism of toilet fitting

He specifically rejected criticism of the way the toilet was fitted, pointing out that it had been inspected by experts and seen to be flushing properly.

“It has not been proven that Greystoke has installed otherwise than in accordance with reasonable practice,” he said.

He also said that the shower fitting had been provided by the householder and it was “reasonable” for Greystoke to try to fit it.

Taken overall, the decorating work was of “the standard of a reasonable contractor”, although a slight reduction in the bill would be made for issues that would have been picked up by snagging.

An expert did not even notice the boot print in the paintwork on the step and, when shown a photograph of it, said it would probably be easily painted over.

“On balance, I determine that where appropriate some deduction should be made for what I regard as snagging items,” he continued.

He said there would be some reductions from the final bill due to snagging issues, variation in the work done, and to remove some extra fees.

“The claimant’s claim succeeds in the sum of £36,760,” he concluded.