East Kent builder jailed after conning thousands from victims

A fraudulent builder from Sandwich has been jailed after conning victims out of thousands and trying to avoid court by claiming he had cancer.

An investigation by Kent Police into Michael Rylands revealed that he would convince people to pay for building work in advance, but never complete the jobs.

Between 2019 and 2021, as well as leaving ensuite bathrooms and office renovations unfinished, he also ran up debts at building supply businesses.

His frauds included failing to install a climbing frame at a pre-school in east Kent after offering to carry out the work at a discounted rate. He took payments amounting to £6,000, cleared a small area of the site but never finished the job and the climbing frame he claimed he had ordered, never arrived.

When confronted about the incomplete work, Rylands told the pre-school he was receiving treatment for cancer and was unable to work.

A builder hired Rylands to fit some windows as part of an office renovation project and he was paid £3,000. The windows were never delivered nor installed. Rylands claimed they had been stolen.

Rylands asked the same builder if he could place a single order using the company account at a building supplies store, which was agreed. Shortly after that, the company received 16 unexpected invoices, all referencing Rylands’ contact details. More than £2,000 worth of unauthorised goods had been ordered and paid for using the victim’s company account.

In July 2020 a woman paid Rylands £2,000 for a bathroom renovation. When the woman received an anonymous email warning her about his offending, she challenged Rylands and asked for the money back. He claimed his bank account had been frozen.

Detectives confirmed that this had been a lie and he had been able to make withdrawals during this time.

Another victim reported a similar experience for their ensuite bathroom with lost funds and incomplete work. They also noticed their own tools and cash had gone missing from the property at that time.

Running up debts

In 2021 Rylands set up a credit account at a building supplies store, running up a bill of over £3,300 which wasn’t paid. He also conned the store out of a further £4,250 by offering to supply nail guns. He never delivered the goods and again never repaid the money.

As well as taking the money from people for uncompleted building jobs, Rylands also kept hundreds of pounds after advertising a laptop for sale online.

When his buyer tried to collect the laptop, Rylands claimed he had been admitted to hospital and would post it instead. The laptop never arrived and Rylands never returned the £450 paid, blaming both postal services and his bank for the missing items.

In November 2022, while he was a defendant in a previous fraud case, Rylands tried to stop the trial going ahead by claiming he had hospital appointments for cancer treatment. Checks at the hospital revealed no record of Rylands on the patient database. He was subsequently charged with perverting the course of justice.

Pleaded guilty

At Canterbury Crown Court, Rylands, 44, of Burch Avenue, Sandwich, admitted seven fraud offences. He also admitted that he had misled the court by claiming he had cancer when he did not.

He was sentenced on Friday 26 June 2026 to a total of 22 months.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Benjamin Deegan said:
‘Our investigation uncovered a trail of unhappy people who had put their trust in Rylands and ended up out of pocket. He seemed to show little remorse for his actions, and thought that claiming he had cancer would provide him with a get-out-of-jail-free card. ‘He had a flagrant disregard for people and property and I am pleased we were able to bring him to court to face justice.’