Warning over cruel tricksters

Took £17,000 for roof work that was never done

A warning has been issued after a Scarborough man was part of a gang who conned a 74-year-old woman out of her £17,000 life savings.

A warning has been issued after a Scarborough man who was part of a gang who conned a 74-year-old woman out of her £17,000 life savings was jailed for 15 months.

At York Crown Court last week, Christopher Paul Long, 34, of Royal Avenue, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud against the Scarborough woman for roofing work at her property in December 2015 and January last year.

Long, along with other men, told the victim they needed to replace her roof and could do the work for £15,000. She negotiated with them and the price was reduced to £12,000. The men told her they needed £7,000 in cash up front to pay for materials, scaffolding and skip hire, which she gave to them.

When the men returned after the Christmas period they told her they had found a rotten beam and a further £5,000 in cash was needed to replace the rafters. They then told her the materials had been bought and were in storage but specialist equipment had to be hired and a £5,000 deposit was required.

The men then told the woman they would do the work on 11 January but never returned. She lost a total of £17,000.

A surveyor a concluded that the whole roof could have been replaced for £7,500. The victim in the case said: “I have no ‘spare’ money left for emergencies now and I can’t hire help in the house and garden for the jobs which are too heavy or difficult for me.

“I can’t think of any sort of holiday, however small, until I can save up or get some money back in this case.”