Builder's touching message to family after their wall is knocked down

29 October 2023 , 12:55

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A rogue trader knocked down a vulnerable woman's garden wall in Maghull (Image: Bev Hughes)

An elderly woman was left in shock after a rogue trader knocked down her garden wall - but a builder then sent her a touching message that made her day.

Shirley Johnson, 88, said a group of men claiming to be from Sefton Council knocked down her garden wall after telling her it was dangerous and causing injuries - and demanded £4,000 for the work. Her daughter, Bev Hughes, 59, said the men entered Shirley's home and tried to sympathise with her after seeing photos of her late husband.

"They threatened they would take my mum to the small claims court... my husband had further conversations with an alleged manager of the company who also threatened to take the matter to court," she said. Bev shared that her mum was "disturbed" and "frightened" after the incident.

(Bev Hughes)

She said: "She was probably frightened. It's disturbed her and it's caused a great deal of upset [the incident]. She didn't see the wall until she went out to church on Sunday.

"I don't think it's really sunk in for her. How can anyone do this to an 88-year-old? It's sick." After the incident, Bev got a message from a local builder who offered to rebuild the wall for free if she could provide the materials and a cement mixer. But when the Liverpool Echo wrote about the incident, a woman living nearby offered to lend the family a cement mixer for the day.

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Last Sunday the builder, who wanted to stay anonymous, started cleaning every single brick before relaying them for Shirley. The pensioner's family also set up Ring doorbell security at the home. Bev added: "She's really pleased with it. and said it looks better than it did before. It must have been there for 30 years.

"He [the builder] came on his own time and worked very hard to clean every brick to save her money and didn't charge her a penny. He's just a good Samaritan and it makes you realise that there's still so many lovely people around. The community of Maghull really came together."

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]

Chiara Fiorillo