Cowboy builders jailed for charging disabled pensioner £64,000 to build wall just 9in high
A PAIR of rogue builders were jailed yesterday after being caught charging a pensioner £64,500 to build a 9in garden wall that should have cost just £600.
Jeffrey Tawse, 52, and his son James, 25, stung the disabled man for the ripoff job around his front lawn – and an inspection later recommended the ‘truly appalling’ work they did carry out is demolished.
Police were alerted when the 71-year-old victim, who suffers with memory loss after a brain injury from a cycling accident, withdrew £100,000 from his bank.
But a court heard it was just the latest in a string of cons by the cowboy builders who operated across South Wales using aggressive sales tactics to intimidate vulnerable and elderly householders. Their oldest victim was 97. One woman said she did not want any work done but they began tending her driveway and then demanded payment. In another case they charged an 83year-old woman £1,450 to repair her roof, but did not carry out any work at all.
Detailing their 9in wall scam, prosecutor Lee Reynolds told Cardiff Crown Court: ‘A chartered surveyor described their work as truly
‘Preyed on the vulnerable’
appalling, saying it should have cost £600 and recommended the wall be demolished.’
The Tawses, from Rumney, Cardiff, also conned elderly householders out of thousands of pounds by treating overgrown driveways with seawater instead of special sealant. Just weeks later the weeds would begin to grow back and the driveways begin to collapse.
Cardiff Crown Court heard the Tawses defrauded 15 people aged 50 to 97 out of a total of £71,000.
Jeffrey Tawse, who admitted money laundering and conspiracy to defraud, was jailed for six years. His son James was sentenced to two years for conspiracy to defraud.
Judge David Wynn Morgan told the pair: ‘You identified and preyed on the vulnerable in the community in a deliberate, consistent, cold-blooded way.’
Newport City Council’s trading standards officers, in a team called ‘Scambuster Wales’, carried out a two-year investigation into the pair’s activities.
Team leader Andrew Bertie said: ‘We were shocked by what we discovered. The two men used aggressive sales tactics to intimidate elderly and vulnerable people into Rogue trader: James Tawse having work carried out. We found examples of poor standards, overcharging and even work not being carried out.
‘Their actions were inexcusable and I am pleased that the sentence recognises the serious impact they had on their victims.’
The pair claimed to work for numerous different companies but all were unregistered, while addresses and contact details supplied to their victims on documentation and invoices were false.
Mr Bertie added: ‘The Tawses offered to clean and seal driveways and patios as well as apply “weed-proof” sand to prevent further growth. Work was supposedly guaranteed for up to five years and consumers were not given any opportunity to cancel.
‘However, work was not carried out to the promised standard. In a number of cases, no sand was laid and, in others, the sand was washed or blown away as soon as there was adverse weather. Weeds and growth returned within a short time.’
Lord Harris, chairman of National Trading Standards Board, said: ‘This sentence sends a clear message that these deliberate attempts to deceive consumers – many of whom were in vulnerable situations – will not be tolerated’