Redditch rogue trader sentenced to 5½ years

At an earlier hearing, Daniel Footman of Pinnacle House, 632 Evesham Road, Redditch, pleaded guilty to two offences of Fraudulent Trading.

He was sentenced to five and a half years in prison by Hereford Crown Court on Friday 13 February 2026, and was disqualified from being company director for 10 years.

Footman and his company Opulent Lifestyle Ltd were investigated by the Trading Standards team after a significant number of complaints from residents within Worcestershire and quite widely across the country were received about their business practices.

The court heard that between October 2016 and December 2020, Footman took money from victims for home improvements which were either not started, only partially completed, or completed to a poor standard.

The court also heard how a number of tradesmen and small businesses who had worked for the rogue trader had not been paid, with further substantial sums also owed to suppliers. The Judge commented that 31 victims had been told lie after lie by Mr Footman who had swindled then out of their money.

A number of victims provided statements outlining the detrimental effect of the rogue trader’s offending, with his victims suffering clear financial and emotional harm, some of which led to physical illness, all caused by Footman’s actions.

In passing sentence HHJ Jackson said Footman had ‘lied and lied and lied’, that he was ‘thoroughly manipulative’ and ‘nothing but a dishonest crook’.

The case is the second brought against Footman by Worcestershire’s Trading Standards team, with the County Council prosecuting him for identical conduct a decade ago. The Judge commented that, in his view, it was clear that Footman had waited for the expiry of the suspended prison sentence previously imposed by the Court before embarking again on a virtually identical course of conduct and offending.

Worcestershire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Communities, Councillor Ian Cresswell, said: “This case demonstrates how vital the work of our Trading Standards team is. This is a significant sentence and shows how seriously the courts view this type of offending.”

Head of Trading Standards for Worcestershire County Council, Simon Wilkes added: “Investigating complex fraud offences, often committed against vulnerable people is becoming one of the main areas of work for our Trading Standards team. Unscrupulous and dishonest traders tempted to operate in our area, are warned that we will not hesitate to take similar action against anyone who exploits vulnerable people in our county.”