‘DESPICABLE’ FRAUDSTERS DEMANDED CASH FROM VULNERABLE
TWO crooks bullied and intimidated vulnerable and elderly homeowners into handing over money for roofing work they didn’t carry out, a court has heard.
Thomas Lawrence and Paddy O’Brien demanded hundreds of pounds from their victims for replacing tiles which were never damaged.
Swansea Crown Court heard the pair carried out three offences in the space of just a couple of hours on January 7 this year.
Jim Davis, prosecuting, said on that day Lawrence and O’Brien were driven to Swansea in a van by O’Brien’s brother Michael, who stayed in the van. One of the incidents took place in Cwmrhydyceirw, one in Morriston, and one in Skewen. All the occupants they targeted were people aged in their 80s or 90s.
At each address the pair claimed to have replaced damaged tiles on the roofs, and demanded payment for the work – in one case £1,850.
Mr Davis said one of the victims later reported how O’Brien became “quite aggressive” when the demand for money was refused.
The court heard one of the targets was a woman aged 93 who was registered blind and suffered with dementia, hearing loss, and mobility issues. After knocking on her door and demanding money for bogus work the defendants went into her house, closing the front door behind them, and continued to badger her for cash. Eventually the woman handed over the £40 she had in her purse.
The incidents were reported to the police and Lawrence and O’Brien were arrested. O’Brien’s fingerprints were subsequently recovered from “receipts” he had given the victims for the work the pair had supposedly done.
In an impact statement from the son of the Skewen victim he said though his mother had dementia and though could not remember all the details of what happened to her, she could remember two strangers being in her house. He said his mum had always been determined to live as independently as possible but had been left feeling frightened and he said he had noticed a deterioration in her health since the incident. He described the defendants as “despicable” people.
Thomas Christopher Lawrence, aged 27, of Sunny Bank, St George, Bristol, and 19-year-old Paddy Patrick O’Brien, of Wentloog Road, Trowbridge, Cardiff, had both previously pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation when they appeared in the dock for sentencing.
Lawrence has 19 previous convictions for 31 offences including for criminal damage, making off without payment, burglary, dangerous driving, and fraud. O’Brien has one previous conviction for theft committed as a juvenile.
Ashanti-Jade Walton, for Lawrence, said the defendant was a father-of-two with a third on the way next month. She said while it was perhaps a widely held belief that members of the traveller community could call upon an extended network of family for support that was not the case for the defendant and she said Lawrence’s partner relied upon him. The barrister said the defendant had a “difficult time” growing up and did have the benefit of educational opportunities and she said he was “ashamed and remorseful” for what he had done.
Susan Ferrier, for O’Brien, said her client accepted his behaviour on the day had been “dreadful”. She said the defendant was a member of the traveller community who had had no formal education – leaving school at the age of 11 – and was a young man who was “easily led” by others. The barrister said O’Brien maintained his account that he was in Swansea that day to attend a funeral.
Giving the defendants a onethird discount for their guilty pleas, Recorder Aidan Eardley sentenced Lawrence to 15 months in prison and O’Brien to 10 months in prison suspended for 12 months. Lawrence will serve up to half his sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.