Plumber’s leak ruins his life

A PLUMBER who used a household water tank to tackle a leak of his own yesterday escaped jail — but said his life had been destroyed anyway.

Roy Williams, 47, was sentenced to 150 hours community service and fined €5,475 at Guildford Crown Court.

He was caught after being called out to fix a “fault” at a house used for an undercover Trading Standards sting operation.

Williams’ barrister said his client was a family man who had not only lost his business but damaged his wife’s village post office trade after CCTV footage of him pouring his own urine into a customer’s water tank was released to television.

Williams was caught in a Trading Standards house of horrors operation in November 2003.

The house had been rigged up with hidden cameras concealed in everyday items, including a cornflake box and a rubber duck to test the honesty of tradesmen carrying out repairs.

Williams was filmed urinating into a vase and tipping it into the house’s hot water tank. He then rinsed out the vase in the cold water storage tank.