Dodgy builder Michelle Hosking sentenced to 30-month CCO after ripping off Croydon North families

A DODGY developer who ripped off two Croydon North families and gambled away $100,000 of their money has been branded a thief and “unemployable in the building industry”.

A DODGY developer who ripped off two Croydon North families and gambled away most of $100,000 of their money has been branded a “dishonest thief” and “unemployable in the building industry”.

Michelle Hosking,51, of Rowville, was sentenced to a 30-month community corrections order in the County Court on July 31.

She had previously pleaded guilty to two charges of theft while acting as a project manager for renovation work on two projects in 2011 and 2012.

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Judge Paul Lacava told Ms Hosking she had “knowingly stole money from your clients” by altering invoices and charging for work that had not been completed.

The court heard most of the money Ms Hosking had taken from her clients, believed to be more than $100,000, was “wasted on gambling”.

Judge Lacava told Ms Hosking he felt her offending “represents a gross breach of trust placed in you”.

“Your clients … were friends and acquaintances from your local community who trusted you to do their work,” he said.

“They placed their trust in you, and you breached their trust.

“Each of the victims is entitled to feel entirely abused by you in a financial sense.”

As part of her sentence, Ms Hosking will have to complete 250 hours unpaid community work and attend alcohol and mental health rehabilitation programs. She will also have to report on her progress every six months.

Judge Lacava told Ms Hosking he had put in “a great deal of thought of what I should do with you because I am not convinced you are truly remorseful”.

He told Ms Hosking she avoided a three-year jail sentence because she had no prior convictions and pleaded guilty early in the case.

“I would have sent you to jail for these crimes, which as I say, were very dishonest acts against friends and a gross breach of trust,” he said.

“If you step out of line in any way, I will send you to jail.”

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