Trading standards team's hard work paves the way for Denny rogue trader's prison sentence

Earlier this month at Falkirk Sheriff Court, Keenan Kirkwood, director of the now dissolved Denny-based Kirkwood Paving Limited, faced the consequences of his actions and was jailed for 160 days after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud.

The prison sentence followed a thorough investigation by the local authoritiy’s trading standards team, which led to the matter being reported to the Procurator Fiscal.

Kirkwood admitted deceiving residents and depriving them of cash, while leaving a trail of damaged driveways behind him.

Councillor Stacey Devine, public protection spokesperson, said: “The team’s commitment to community protection played a pivotal role in bringing this case to justice.

“We have a zero-tolerance approach for rogue traders who target, in the main, vulnerable people. We work closely with Police Scotland to secure convictions, sending

a clear message that these activities are not acceptable and will not be tolerated.”

At Falkirk Sheriff Court earlier in the year Kirkwood pleaded guilty to obtaining £11,500 through fraud at an address in Little Denny Road, Denny between July 25 and July 29, 2019. He also admitted obtaining £1850 through fraud at an address in Cardowan Drive, Stepps between July 31 and August 3, 2019.

Procurator fiscal depute Robbie McDougall said Kirkwood’s Denny-based firm Kirkwood Paving Ltd dissolved in March, 2021. Not before his employees ruined the driveways of at least two of his customers and cost them a pretty penny.

Back in 2019 the accused and an associate made an unsolicited visit to the home of an elderly couple, who transferred £11,500 into Kirkwood’s account that same day.

The work carried out was found to be unsatisfactory by an independent surveyor who visited the property and required £8000 of remedial work to fix the shoddy job.

It was a similar story at another property, where an elderly resident’s drain ended up being blocked due to the bad workmanship of Kirkwood’s employees. In fact a new drive was required costing £2500 after the resident had already paid Kirkwood £1860.