Dozens of families have been put through hell by a rogue landscaper who ran a Ponzi scheme for years, took their money and left their homes and gardens in such a shoddy and dangerous state they became dangerous health hazards. Between July 2018 and March 2023, Scott Andrew Murray took on landscaping work all over Cornwall from Newquay to Looe, Truro to Helston, but never completed any of it to the high standard he promised, if at all.
A sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court today (Thursday, January 9) heard how the 35-year-old from Helston, who pleaded guilty to counts of fraudulent trading at an earlier hearing, ran Icon Landscaping Ltd, doing jobs for couples and families, businesses and other landscape gardeners, taking payment for items that never materialised. On many occasions, he would promise start dates that were delayed with no explanation, promised high standards of work, and agreed completion dates with his customers but again these were continually delayed.
One of his customers, who had paid more than £100,000 for a complete garden revamp, including a swimming pool, ended up having to have the work pulled up and redone by another builder when the pool collapsed. Others had walls built on tiles rather than proper foundations while some customers ended up with muddy quagmires for gardens and paths and patios that weren’t straight, had no grouting, or substandard materials were used instead of what was paid for.
One of Murray’s victim was Dan Townley who has spent the last four years extending and renovating his family home in Lusty Glaze, Newquay.
He told CornwallLive after the hearing how he had contracted Murray and Icon Landscaping to carry out a £40,000 landscaping project which was supposed to include a porcelain tiled patio, shed, outdoor kitchen, sunken seating area, new fencing, planting and a new driveway.
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He said that after paying an initial deposit, they had delay after delay due to a number of excuses. When the work began, it was based around a weekly payment plan, with the job scheduled to last for eight weeks.
However, four weeks into the project, Murray had taken more than £20,000 and £12,000 in materials from the Townleys, but the job had barely started.
Dan said that six months on, the family’s entire garden, pathways, and driveway were left completely ruined, along with all the materials. He said, “The work was dangerous and so poor; it’s unbelievable.”
When Dan contacted Trading Standards at Cornwall Council and posted about Murray and his shoddy work on social media out of frustration, he was inundated with calls and messages from other homeowners, businesses, and landscapers who had fallen victim to Murray, too.
Some 18 people and businesses contacted Trading Standards as a result and a case was brought against Murray. Dan added: “It was the same tactics with everyone. Shoddy dangerous work and excuses. We are in a total debt of well over £40,000 now and still have a mess of a garden and driveway.
“It has been complete hell for my family these past two years, and we still have nothing to show for it just a complete headache and two children who love being outside were left with absolutely no outdoor space as the whole garden was a complete safety hazard. Financially it completely ruined us, as we are in a huge amount of debt now. Most of the cases are similar.”
Some of Murray’s other victims have also lost money ranging from £20,000 up to £150,000.
The court heard how when Murray realised the hole he was in, he collapsed his business into administration and started a new company doing virtually the same thing – which again added more victims to his tally.
In the end 18 of his victims contacted Cornwall Council’s Trading Standards and a case was brought against Murray. David Sapiecha, prosecuting on behalf of Cornwall Council, told the court how the agreed sum of money Murray had defrauded people out of was £200,000 so it would pass the custody threshold.
Some of the shoddy works carried out by Scott Murray over years
Icon Landscaping’s accounts on Companies House show that more than £450,000 is owed to clients, including very large sums of more than £100,000 for a couple of them.
Showing photographs of the shoddy work Murray did for people when he actually did any work, Mr Sapiecha said that on one occasion, a bag of cement had actually been embedded in the grouting work between tiles for a driveway.
Others had their driveways crumble, slabs set on wooden posts, paths sinking in the mud, walls built with no foundations and “just bits of wood tacking it out”. Others had decking set at the wrong depth or propped up with off-cuts. He said: “He would take on the work, not do it, delay it, make promises and never carry it out.”
Mr Sapiecha also read out several victim impact statements. One such victim said the garden work Murray did for them was “not the grand garden we had hoped to achieve” adding that all their savings had disappeared and they were left with plenty of unnecessary stress and many sleepless nights.
Another victim said they were asked for more money for materials but Murray brought in something cheap that had not been agreed upon and the work was of very poor quality, leaving them feeling like they had been conned.
One victim said they had paid for 90 per cent of the work but only 30 per cent of it was carried out, leaving them having to spend even more money to correct his mess.
In their victim impact statement, they said: “He lied from the outset. When he started the work finally he wanted even more money. It was all lies with constant excuses. The time, the stress and the cost were immense.”
The chimney work Scott Murray carried out for a customer to extremely poor standards
Mr Sapiecha told the court how Murray eventually liquidated his business, Icon Landscaping, in “an attempt to evade responsibility”. Another of Murray’s victims told the court in her victim impact statement how her husband had cancer treatment, and Murray promised her he would pull out all the stops to ensure her husband would get to enjoy the garden, but it never happened, and her husband died before the work was completed.
Another customer, in a wheelchair, wanted an accessible garden and asked that Murray returns their money if he wasn’t going to complete the work but despite assurances that he had ordered the materials, the work was never completed and the customer also passed away before ever enjoying their garden.
Another customer told the court that “Murray didn’t know what he was doing,” adding that they had to remortgage their house and take out a loan to complete the work he never did. They added, “It was greed and lies. We’ve been through three years of absolute trauma and nightmares.”
In mitigation, Jason Beal said Murray was a man of good character who had already repaid £83,000 of the £200,000 agreed by the courts that he owes. However he said Murray had no more assets to realise and could only repay about 10 per cent of what is left over the next three years, which His Honour Judge Simon Carr said this was an unacceptable sum as it “barely scratched the surface”.
Mr Beal said: “This was no fraudulent escapade to steal money from others. It was a non-fraudulent start but he engaged in that activity as time progressed. The situation arose where losses happened and there was a tendency to chase those losses. He took on something he was incapable of doing and was ill-prepared to do, and that led to fraudulent activity. He has moved on from that and will stay away from that.”
He told the court that Murray is no longer the owner or manager of any business but works for someone else as a landscaper and insisted that should he keep his liberty he would attempt to repay what he owes.
Sentencing Murray to two and a half years in prison, Judge Carr told him that regardless of whether is a talented landscape gardener or not, Murray is a “terrible businessman”. He added: “You ran a Ponzi scheme. You took money from people for materials to do some work on their properties or gardens with a promise of a certain quality, agreed starting times and completion dates but you used that money on other jobs where you had already started the work.
“When people were on the edge of claiming their deposits back, there were delays and you took money and materials from other people to complete these jobs. This was insidious. People have to be able to trust their employees and the effect this has had on these people has been devastating. People have died during that time, never seeing the work when they had been hoping to spend the last years of their lives in a beautiful garden but instead stared at mud and ruin as they were dying.
“You obviously never wanted all this to happen. But running a business is not for you.”
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