‘I did nothing wrong’: Homeowner hits back after tradies tear up driveway over $3500 bill

A South Australian homeowner whose driveway was dramatically bulldozed by tradies over an alleged unpaid bill has given his side of the story.

EXCLUSIVE

A homeowner whose driveway was dramatically bulldozed by tradies over an alleged unpaid bill says he has been inundated with racist abuse online after video of the incident went viral.

The 45-year-old from South Australia, who asked not to be named, was seen in the video posted to social media by Clare Concreting pleading with the tradies to stop destroying his driveway, as they demanded payment of an outstanding $3500 invoice.

The homeowner said he was at home cooking lunch for his two daughters, aged nine and four, on Tuesday last week when “I hear some rumbling noise in the front”.

“I went outside and saw he’s digging my driveway,” he said.

“I went inside because my kids are crying, grabbed my phone and called the cops. He wouldn’t stop. The cops said, ‘It’s a civil matter, we can’t do anything.’”

The incident in Clare, a small town about an hour-and-a-half north of Adelaide, quickly went viral online with many social media users supporting the tradies.

Damian Hallett, 37, and business partner Jamie Sommerville, 39, told news.com.au on Thursday that they “don’t condone” such behaviour but were left with no choice.

According to Mr Sommerville, the job was for $13,500 and the homeowner had paid $10,000, but was refusing to pay the remainder.

A police officer was seen in the video speaking with the tradies, telling the homeowner, “Well then you need to pay him $3500.”

A SA Police spokeswoman told news.com.au on Thursday “the matter was a civil dispute and SAPOL attended to ensure there was no breach of the peace occurring”.

“No offences had been committed by any persons and SAPOL did not get involved in the matter of payment between the parties,” she said.

But the homeowner, who says his house has been turned into a local attraction with strange cars driving past to gawk at the damage, is not happy with the police response and is now planning to take legal action.

The remains of the driveway. Picture: Supplied

“Police had their hands up, they said they can’t do anything, ‘We are here so you guys don’t get physical’,” he said.

“At that point in time, I’m thinking if I don’t pay him now he will break my driveway, break the retaining wall, so to stop all the nonsense I said, ‘OK, I’ll pay you now.’ I just wanted for things to get stopped there and then because my kids were crying inside, and the police doing nothing.”

The man insisted he was always intending to pay but that the tradies still had not finished some agreed work, including levelling of the ground, plumbing and construction of a retaining wall.

He said he had already paid $30,000 for work on the house.

“Why would I not pay $3500?” he said.

The driveway was completed on Saturday, March 9 and the homeowner paid $10,000 out of a $13,500 invoice.

“[Mr Hallett] said, ‘What about the $3500?’ I told him you haven’t finished the job, you still have a lot of things to do,” he said.

That sparked an angry back-and-forth via text message, culminating in the events on Tuesday, March 12.

A text from the owner to Jamie Sommerville. Picture: Supplied

The homeowner said the videos posted online had caused the family distress, and that he took them to Adelaide for a week to get away.

“People just comment on things when they have no idea, they just appreciate the violence,” he said.

“Why are people happy? Sending me racial comments, Indian this, Indian that, when they have no idea what the story’s about. All they know is a five-second TikTok thing. I’m getting messages from friends and family all over Australia, people are calling me worried.”

The man, who came to Australia around 14 years ago, said “this is a new Australia I’ve seen”.

“People have no idea of the story and they can comment on everything, about my life, where I come from, how I look, my skin colour,” he said.

“Not saying the whole of Australia is like this, I’m getting phone calls from very nice people, but the negative things impact more than the positive things. One negative comment can have a deep impact on your mind. Ninety per cent of people already made up their mind that ‘he is the culprit’.”

Clare is a “very small community” and “people are getting nasty”, he said, adding both he and his wife had taken time off work for their mental health.

“People are driving past my house to look at the driveway and drive off, it’s like a circus,” he said.

The homeowner says people are driving past to gawk. Picture: Supplied

“I’m scared now, you never know who’s in the car. My kids are upset, ‘Why are people looking at our house?’”

While Clare Concreting has offered to come back and repair the driveway and finish the job, the homeowner said “I don’t want them to come to my home now”.

“This matter is not resolved, I’m taking legal advice,” he said.

“He will be getting a notice soon, because I know I did nothing wrong.”

Mr Sommerville told news.com.au on Thursday that “we knew it was going to come to a situation”.

“We’re just hardworking Aussies,” he said. “It’s a hard trade, concreting.”

He added that “the police were great, they were outstanding”.

“I couldn’t believe it myself,” he said.

Mr Hallett added: “There were no quality issues. He said there was a discrepancy in the invoices, he wasn’t sure what invoice was supposed to be paid when.”

In one video, the homeowner approaches Mr Hallett as he’s bulldozing and pleads with him to stop.

“I’m ripping the whole f**king lot out,” Mr Hallet tells him.

The video went viral, with many people supporting the tradies. Picture: Instagram

“It’s not going to help anybody,” the homeowner says.

“It’s not going to help me by leaving it here,” Mr Hallet replies.

“I don’t care, I’m pulling this out. At the end of the day you owe me $3500. I’m pulling this out, you’ve had your chances.”

The homeowner continues to argue.

“You said you’re not going to pay me the money,” Mr Hallet says. “If you’re going to pay me the money I’ll stop, if not I’m going to bulldoze now.”

He then resumes his bulldozing.

In another clip, a police officer can be heard asking Mr Hallet to “be reasonable” and talk to the owner.

“I’ve got messages to say a day ago you said you’ll pay,” Mr Hallet yells at the man.

“Now we can go over here and talk about it,” the officer says.

“You can go and talk to him,” Mr Hallet says. “I’m done talking to him. Why do I need to talk to him?”

Damian Hallett and Jamie Sommerville. Picture: Supplied

A third video showed the homeowner again trying to reason with Mr Hallet.

“Get the f**k away from my Bobcat, I’m digging the driveway up,” the tradie says.

“Please, please — can I talk to you one second?” the homeowner says.

“F**k off,” Mr Hallet says.

“I’ve tried to bargain with you. If you’re going to pay the money talk to me, if not f**k off. I don’t care. I’ve never done this before in my life.”

The police officer then asks, “Hang on, how much do you owe him?”

“$3500,” Mr Hallet says.

“Well then you need to pay him $3500,” the officer says.

In a follow-up post on Instagram, Mr Hallet wrote in the caption, “In relation to this, we have been paid in full on the day. Thanks to South Australian police involvement.”