A BUILDER who lied about his qualifications and left work unfinished has been freed on appeal.

Martin Gumbrell, 53, was jailed for 18 months at Bournemouth Crown Court in November last year for two counts of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception.

London’s Criminal Appeal Court rejected his appeal against conviction but set him free after slashing his sentence to six months.

Two of Gumbrell’s projects – at Sturminster Newton and Poole’s Lilliput – ended in disaster, costing thousands of pounds to put right.

Judge Sir Anthony May said Gumbrell, of Taylor Drive, Bournemouth, had “learned his lesson” and had an “immaculate” previous record.

The evidence suggested he was competent at simpler jobs but had “bitten off more than he could chew” in accepting two ambitious projects.

He had pretended he was up to a task for which he lacked the necessary expertise, the court heard, and exaggerated the size of his workforce.

Eighteen months was “too long for these offences”, ruled the judge.

Gumbrell took on the two contracts, worth over £800,000, after telling clients he had won awards for his building skills.

One of his victims was retired company director Terry Seaborn, who agreed to pay Gumbrell £350,000 for his dream home at Broad Oak, Sturminster Newton.

David and Heather Williams forked out almost £500,000 to fix a house which Gumbrell failed to finish, at Lagoon Road, Lilliput.

Gumbrell promised to start work in February 2004 and to complete the project within 10 months. But in October 2005, when Mr and Mrs Williams returned from holiday, they found the house only partly finished and that workmen had left.

Gumbrell’s barrister, Simon Murray, claimed the picture was not as bleak as depicted by the prosecution, saying the Williams’ house was now on the market for over £2 million.