Rogue builders jailed for fraud scam on the elderly

A gang of rogue builders who took more than £1.5million in fraudulent home repairs have been jailed.

The Nottingham based gang used a cold calling technique to prey on their victims who were mainly elderly residents in their 70s and 80s.

Approximately 1,600 people across the East Midlands were targeted in the scam, which conned people into undertaking unnecessary building work and damp proofing.

The gang offered homeowners a bogus property survey before insisting that work needed to be done to their homes.

The scam earned them more than £1.5m by cheating the vulnerable out of money for home repair work that was never needed.

They were eventually caught after a five year investigation from Trading Standards. The investigation was carried across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Warwickshire.

Last week Paul Hilton, 40, of Nottingham, and Kevin Christian, 45, of Mansfield, were jailed for two years and 18 months respectively at Birmingham Crown Court.

Jane Clark, 29, of Nottingham, Melvyn Hayden, 58, of Derby and Christopher Baird, 27, of Mansfield, all pleaded guilty to fraud charges. Dominic O’Carroll, 39, of Nottingham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud.

Clark was given an 18 month community order, Hayden a six month suspended sentence while Baird received a four month suspended sentence.

O’Carroll was handed a 12 month suspended sentence.

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Published by Laura Elahi on December 13th, 2010