Durham County Council’s court case against a man accused of fraud has resulted in the defendant being sentenced to two years in prison.

In the council’s case against Kye Ranson, the judge was told that payments of over £70,000 were fraudulently taken from eight separate customers for work that wasn’t completed.

According to the local authority, Mr Ranson would give customers a quote for the work to be carried out at their properties and request a deposit that was typically 50% of the price.

After receiving payment, Mr Ranson would fail to deliver the work, with excuses ranging from those about weather or car problems to family emergencies.

In a statement last Friday, the council said that Mr Ranson had attended court for sentencing after having already pleaded guilty under the Fraud Act 2006 to an offence of ‘knowingly participating in a fraudulent business’. This is said to have occurred between May 2024 and June 2025.

The reports of ‘unfair business practices’ carried out by Mr Ranson and his firm, KR Creative Design Solutions, had been raised with the council from August 2025.

Furthermore, the judge was told that Mr Ranson, who was the sole trader of the business, would ‘delay matters further’ when returning to the houses of customers he had gained payments from.

The council statement said that Mr Ranson would not reimburse customers when they asked for their money back, instead claiming that he had ‘already paid for materials which were bespoke designs and, therefore, could not be refunded’.

While some of those affected were able to get the money back from their banks, a total of £70,202 had been lost by customers following the fraud, with £24,525 being the highest individual lost.

In court, Mr Ranson had said that during the offence, he was struggling with his mental health after separating from his wife.

‘The judge was also asked to consider his good character and genuine remorse’, the council said.

He was sentenced to two years in prison, with the judge stating that Mr Ranson had ‘strung [customers] along with excuse after excuse with no intention of doing the work’.

Comments

Owen Cleugh, acting head of community protection for the council, said: ‘Mr Ranson took thousands of pounds from people who trusted him to carry out work which they had agreed with him.

‘However, none of the work was ever undertaken, with a number of reasons being given by the defendant as to why. The customers we spoke to suffered great emotional distress as a result of Mr Ranson's actions.

‘We hope the two-year prison sentence handed out by the court will serve as a warning to anyone thinking they can take money from people for work they don't deliver.’