Should I just dispose of a rogue tradesman's ladder he left behind.

anotherquestion

He did actually say he would come back a few days later to collect Ladder when he finished ie botched the job, but the day after it rained, Leak still present and silicone over some tiles, also had a look at the felt support trays he installed, felt underneath them rather than over, the tiles were not nailed back in again, so I messaged him, no response, calling him straight to answerphone. I actually was only pleased the first time he did an outhouse.

Lets just say as regards tipping over the price, I have always done this as I do appreciate a job done well and in time by a tradesman, and if the price is fair in the first place.

Regarding the ladder I wish he would take it, at least we could have a few words, its just a 10ft one well used with narrow steps bent, only taking up some space in garden, he did like the look of my stepladder which can be extended to the same size of ladder, so I do believe he was going to buy one with the money he got paid, and a strong possibility he was just dumping the old one with me. Just a pity to keep so as to keep it totally legal I have to hold on to it, rather than let council take it away.

Got the following messages from a few others who have used him,

Names omitted.,

Same boy *****.. charged me £250 to repair a bit of lead in a gully. Simple job but I didn’t have a roof ladder. I found a bit of stick covered in silicone in one of my bins and when I checked, he’d just smeared some silicone over it and made a total mess.

• he did a fence for us which took him over 2 weeks to complete which should have been completed in one day … and let’s say wasn’t the best .. … paid him 280 for about 8 hours work and didn’t come back to finish the work … I was just glad to see the back of him to be honest
• 
  

 he’s a horrible crook who has taken our money and left a mess

ThumbRemote

While the advice you've been given is totally correct from a legal perspective, lets face it, he's abandoned his ladder in your garden and has no knowledge of whether you've disposed of it or someone has taken it while it's been left unsecured outside. 

"No, it's not here any more, sorry, I assumed that you'd been back and removed it as it disappeared after a few days"

user1977

And worst case scenario is having to compensate him for its value. Which sounds minimal. 

Chrysalis

Once my landlord staff left a bunch of flooring panels and tools in my hallway for weeks, I told them it will be on ebay if not collected soon, they came next day to pick it up.

I feel you should at least attempt to contact and give him chance to pick it up.