Builder spared jail after stealing £9k from cancer patient

Alexander Dunn has dodged jail. Picture: Getty

A COWBOY builder who stole thousands of pounds from a cancer-stricken woman has dodged jail.

Alexander Dunn, 52, from Uphall, took £9000 from Karen Macdonald to carry out work on new bathrooms, heating, patio doors and a kitchen at her home – but failed to carry out any of the promised upgrades, leaving her back garden a wreck of rubble, bricks and concrete.

He initially tried to get away with his crime by denying he owed the struggling mum, who was receiving gruelling chemotherapy sessions at the time to combat breast cancer.

Ms Macdonald had told Dunn she had a budget of £25,000 to transform her home – including building a bedroom extension for her daughter, Iona, who was six at the time.

He agreed to manage the project and made one visit to her property in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, along with his brother and an architect, after which £9000 was transferred into his bank account to allow foundations to be laid and materials bought.

Dunn also began the process of applying for planning permission but nothing further was done.