Overview
- Stevens, found guilty by a Melbourne jury on Monday, was taken into custody and is due back for a pre-sentence hearing on May 21.
- Prosecutors said he deceived six Mildura families out of about $171,000 for pools that were faulty, not permitted, or never installed, leaving some with cracks or big holes in their yards.
- The case focused on work done without a builder’s licence, permits, or required domestic building insurance after council stop-work orders began in May 2017.
- One guilty count covered a doctored screenshot that was sent to a shipping company to make it look like a payment had been made for a pool delivery.
- The jury’s decision came in a fourth trial after three earlier panels were discharged, closing a protracted dispute over whether he ever intended to install legally compliant pools.