Mornington Peninsula landscaper ripped off three garden owners out of $80k for work never done
He was paid large sums of cash upfront to do extensive landscaping work on three Peninsula properties. But the only thing that grew was his bank balance.
South East
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A gambling gardener who conned three Peninsula property owners out of nearly $80,000 for work he never did has been jailed.
Lazy landscaper Jarrad Garth blew the money on his addiction after deceiving homeowners in Crib Point, Mornington and Balnarring out of their hard-earned cash.
Garth, 37, formerly of Balnarring, pleaded guilty to three deception charges at Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
The court heard the master manipulator had been a landscape gardener for 18 years, but his finances took a turn for the worst after his marriage broke up in April 2016.
In June of that year the rogue rorter deceived a woman out of $34,980 after agreeing to do works on her Crib Point property.
He took the cash upfront saying he needed it for materials, but never came back to do the work, instead offering fake excuse after excuse.
Three months later he took a Mornington man to the cleaners for $37,000 after quoting to do extensive landscape works on his garden.
Again he took money for materials, and again he failed to do the job as required.
He would offer lame excuses such as saying he had been burgled and lost possessions, that he had received a dud cheque from another customer, and that he had broken his leg in a fall so couldn’t work.
In October 2017 he met a man in a pub and promised to do work at the bloke’s Balnarring home.
Instead he ripped him off $6210, and ignored calls and texts and gave numerous false excuses when he did respond.
When Garth was arrested he admitted he didn’t do the work as promised and used the money for gambling as he was in a deep depression.
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In court his defence lawyer said his client turned to gambling as a way to escape his mental health issues, and was currently homeless.
He said he accepted he had been dishonest in his dealings and had used falsehoods to buy more time to feed his addiction.
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen said Garth was someone who was highly manipulative that had “played his victims” out of significant amounts of money.
“You attended their homes and over time deceived them, almost pressured them into handing their money over,” Mr Vandersteen said.
“False promises were made, essentially he has stolen nearly $80,000 of their money.”
Garth was jailed for four months and ordered to do a 12-month community corrections order upon release, and he must also repay the three victims.