found guilty of 37 counts of fraud by false representation in October,<\/a> following a 14-week trial at Bristol Crown Court.<\/p>\nThe court heard how the 56-year-old serial fraudster from Paulton ran a ‘ponzi scheme’, using money from fresh customers to fund building work for prior customers he had left incomplete for months.<\/p>\n
He promised customers his company, TD Cole Ltd, would carry out building work for them, but after taking large sums of money, the work was never finished, and sometimes never started.<\/p>\n
Killick’s crimes were carried out between 2019 and 2021 and investigated by Avon and Somerset Police and Bristol City Council’s Trading Standards team.<\/p>\n
![\"Video](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_MS_BGS_23_10_25_Trader-1.jpg\")
Video grab of Mark Killick’s arrest(Image: Avon and Somerset Police)<\/p>\n
He told customers they needed to pay their bills “urgently” and used that money to pay for work he had not yet completed for other customers.<\/p>\n
Killick was also accused of failing to pay suppliers and contractors.<\/p>\n
The money also went towards his own personal expenses, including gambling.<\/p>\n
Several victims shared the impact Killick’s fraud has had on their lives.<\/p>\n
In a victim impact statement read during sentencing, one person told the court they lost \u00a375,000, which was “unbearable and is something that haunts me every day”.<\/p>\n
The victim was forced to extend his mortgage to pay for another contractor to complete the work.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_MS_BGS_24_10_25_Builder-4.jpg\")
The state of the building sites that Mark Killick left (Image: Avon and Somerset Police)<\/p>\n
A woman who lost \u00a317,000 said: “My husband was due to retire soon due to some health issues, unfortunately, due to the criminal actions of Killick, he can no longer do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, others had to leave their homes because the unfinished work left their properties uninhabitable.<\/p>\n
Another said: “The worst thing was that he just kept telling us lies, making endless false promises, giving fake excuses, and demanding more money for himself.<\/p>\n
“He knew, moreover, in doing this, that he was endangering the health and safety of our children. He knew that our damaged flat roof at the rear was on the verge of collapse, and he knew it was above my son\u2019s bedroom where he sleeps.\u201d<\/p>\n
One customer added: \u201cWe no longer feel as confident in ourselves, as we did. We both had responsible jobs before we retired and thought we were good at being able to judge people.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_MS_BGS_23_10_25_Trader-2.jpg\")
The state of the building sites that Mark Killick left (Image: Avon and Somerset Police)<\/p>\n
“When we discovered that Killick had already been convicted for similar crimes, we realised we had been dealing with a very clever, professional, and competent criminal\u2026 Our financial loss means there could be less security for us in old age and less to pass on to children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n
“As we are living on our pensions, we are less able to make up for our financial loss.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another said: \u201cI was living with the entire contents of my kitchen in my lounge, holes in the walls and floor and no cooking facilities for four months with no line of sight to when it would be done, and it always been \u2018next week\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n
“I had to use my bath and bathroom sink for washing up for weeks and weeks and the entire thing was just incredibly frustrating and stressful. Then finding out I would not have a kitchen rebuilt, and with all the money gone, I was obviously distraught.\u201d<\/p>\n
DC Charlotte Suter, officer in the case, said: \u201cMark Killick defrauded dozens of his customers by taking huge sums of money from them while knowing he would not be using their money to do the work he had promised them.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_MS_BGS_24_10_25_Builder-3.jpg\")
The state of the building sites that Mark Killick left (Image: Avon and Somerset Police)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe financial impact of his crimes is clear with it being valued at about \u00a31.25million. We are seeking to recover what we can via the Proceeds of Crime Act.<\/p>\n
\u201cBuilding projects are stressful times, even when they go all to plan, so it\u2019s hard to adequately put into words what it\u2019s been like for Killick\u2019s victims.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has led to countless sleepless nights for them, as well as detrimental affected their health and future plans. While no sentence can undo the toll it\u2019s caused, we hope they can take some comfort in Killick\u2019s prison sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n
A repeat offender, Killick was investigated and prosecuted twice for failing to complete building work after asking for deposits.<\/p>\n
In 2008, he was convicted under the name Killick and in 2014 under the name Mark Jenkins, his grandfather’s name. In the 2000s, he was declared bankrupt.<\/p>\n
In January 2019, Killick changed his name by deed poll to Marc Cole and set up TD Cole Ltd a month later.<\/p>\n
He told the jury this was for family reasons, but it also meant that when customers searched his name, they did not find media coverage of his past convictions.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_MS_BGS_24_10_25_Builder-6.jpg\")
The state of the building sites that Mark Killick left (Image: Avon and Somerset Police)<\/p>\n
DC Suter added: \u201cMark Killick was a master of deception who talked the talk to convince trusting people he was a legitimate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact he is a serial fraudster who took people\u2019s money and lied to them time and time again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Killick was sentenced to 14 years in prison at Bristol Crown Court on December 22.<\/p>\n
Upon his release, he is subject to a disqualification order that bans him from being a director of a company for 15 years.<\/p>\n
He also received a Serious Crime Prevention Order for five years, which will apply a number of restrictions on Killick after he has served his prison term.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the sentencing, Senior Investigating Officer DI Hadley Rides said: \u201cThis result is the culmination of an exhaustive, multi-agency three-year investigation.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_MS_BGS_23_10_25_Trader-3.jpg\")
The state of the building sites that Mark Killick left (Image: Avon and Somerset Police)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like to thank our partners at Trading Standards for their continued support. I would also like to commend DCs Charlotte Suter, Kelly Pinsker and Rachael Webb for their meticulous work.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the course of the five month trial, our specialist fraud and financial investigators navigated a complex web of banking records and alias names. Their dedication in tracing multiple bank transfers and debunking the defendant\u2019s \u2018honest businessman\u2019 narrative was instrumental in securing those 37 guilty verdicts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mark Killick has been convicted of fraud for a fourth timeMark Killick(Image: Avon and Somerset Police ) A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,3893,748,30,188,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-650670","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-city-council","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-courts","12":"tag-crime","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115769749215405701","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Mark-Killick-custody-photoJPG.jpg\")
Mark Killick(Image: Avon and Somerset Police )<\/p>\n