‘He didn’t complete any work’

Police prosecutor Steve Hickey said Lambert offered concreting and landscaping services on Facebook and also answered requests for services wanted.

Contact was made, and quotes were given for complainants from around the Bay of Plenty and Waikato, including Hamilton, Huntly, Te Awamutu, Kihikihi, Ngaruawāhia, and Tauranga.

Lambert often sought a 40% deposit before work started, which was paid into a bank account nominated by him. On two occasions, cash was paid.

“Evidence will be given that the defendant, on most occasions, did not complete any work.”

Complainants will refer to messages or conversations they had with Lambert, and some would also produce photos.

Other times, a small amount of work was done before Lambert was accused of offering “multiple excuses for not returning to the properties”.

As the relationships broke down, refunds were sought, but none were given.

Lambert used four different bank accounts for the complainants to put deposits into, but he was not named as an owner of any of the accounts.

“Viewed separately, it could be argued that each of these failed transactions are a civil breach of contract,” Hickey said.

“The prosecution case is that due to the number and regularity of the failed transactions, the behaviours displayed by the defendant and the lack of compensation, the defendant never intended to fulfil the work as agreed, therefore deceiving the complainants into paying the deposit sought.”

Hickey said once police got involved, it was clear to officers that Lambert “intended to cause a loss to these people”.

‘There wasn’t any bad faith’

Co-defence counsel Johnathan Myers said all but one complaint related to 2020 and 2021, when the country was struck by Covid-19, lockdowns, and supply chain issues.

He denied there was any bad faith by his client in entering into contracts.

“Mr Lambert entered in good faith and Mr Lambert had every intention to complete the work.

“However, while Mr Lambert was not new to concreting work, he was new to running his own business and all the pitfalls that come with that.

Myers said 2020 and 2021 “were some of the most challenging years”.

The defence counsel said the police had tried to elevate the allegations beyond what they were, “a civil dispute about contract work”.

He reminded the judge that she would need to be sure that Lambert made false representations or that he was reckless as to whether they were false, and that there was an intention to deceive the victims, and that he was aware that some loss was likely to occur.

‘I saw him featured on Fair Go’

Gerald Fieten dealt with Lambert in October 2018 when he was suggested as a contractor to do a small concreting job at his rental property at Murphy Lane, Taupiri.

He was given Lambert’s details by a Versatile garage representative after asking for a recommendation to do a small concreting job.

“We asked him if he could do it, and he said he could do it. He had a look at the job and texted us a quote.”

That quote was $2800, of which he asked for a 60% deposit.

Fieten paid $1500 and was told it would be done a couple of days later.

“Did he?” Hickey asked.

“No, he didn’t,” Fieten replied.

Lambert asked him to pay the remainder of the money in December, but Fieten refused, because the job still hadn’t been completed.

“I didn’t think it was wise to do that.”

By February 2019, Fieten began asking for his deposit back, and Lambert agreed, but nothing was ever paid.

Lambert’s co-counsel, Kerry Hadaway, put to Fieten that Lambert had visited the property and prepared the area for work.

“He didn’t get it ready. I had to get it ready myself,” Fieten said.

“Didn’t Mr Lambert put the timber edging in?” Hadaway asked.

“No,” he replied.

“Didn’t he box the area and get it ready for concreting?” she asked.

“No,” he said again.

He also rejected her suggestion that Lambert had spent four hours at the property.

“But you can’t be sure of that because you didn’t live there,” she put to him.

“I can be sure of that because I put the boxing down myself to get the job done,” he replied.

He eventually made a complaint to the police after seeing Lambert featured on Fair Go in 2021.

‘He never, ever paid’

But it’s not just clients who were unhappy. The court heard Lambert also failed to pay his bills.

Karl Sinclair, of Kowhai Hire, testified that initially, when Lambert hired goods from him in early 2020, he paid each time.

“He seemed like a real nice guy, trustworthy guy at the time.”

However, by March of that year, the payment of invoices stopped.

“He just continued to hire quite a bit in a short period of time, probably like two months or whatever.

“They were not paid for.

“It was never disputed that he didn’t owe the money, but they were never paid.”

The total money owed from three unpaid invoices was about $4000, Sinclair said.

He said Lambert was always good at responding to requests for payment, but he “never, ever paid”.

“He told me again and again over different times that he would pay.

Sinclair eventually sent the claim off to the debt collectors, but then finally realised “it’s a waste of our time”.

The trial is set down for three weeks.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.