A fraudulent roofer has been sentenced to 2½ years for ripping of a vulnerable home owner in Wrexham.
John Price, who lives on a caravan park near Oswestry, pleaded guilty to all charges of fraud when he attended court on October 25.
Mr. Price had persuaded his victim that the roof of his home was in serious need of extensive work and charged a total of £32,500. Investigations by Wrexham Council’s Trading Standards officers revealed that there was little wrong with the roof and that the work done by Mr. Price was of poor quality and drastically overpriced.
Mr. Price took cash payments from the victim on four separate occasions, each time driving his victim to the bank to withdraw cash. On the fifth occasion the bank became suspicious and alerted the Police.
In sentencing Mr. Price, Judge Niclas Parry said that Mr. Price was thoroughly dishonest and must have terrified the victim to make him go to his bank and pay all that money to him. He described the work as worthless; it was a con. He pointed out that hours of diligent work had been carried out by local authority employees at a cost to the public with no prospect of getting any costs back.
Mr. Price’s wife, Jamie Nadine Price, was also sentenced for handling the money received by her husband. She was given a 12 month sentence, suspended for 18 months. The judge also ordered that she complete 120 hours of unpaid work and return to court regularly to report on progress with her unpaid work. Judge Parry made it clear that if she did not complete the work she would be going to prison.
Cllr Hugh Jones, Lead Member for Planning and Public Protection said, “The criminality and heartlessness exposed by this case is breathtaking and it is only due to the painstaking investigation by the Council’s Public Protection service that justice has been achieved. I sincerely hope this will serve as a warning to those who seek to exploit the vulnerable in our communities. We will not hesitate to investigate such cases and bring perpetrators to justice for crimes of this kind.”
Roger Mapleson, Trading Standards and Licensing Lead said, “This was a very troubling case with a vulnerable resident coerced into paying a huge amount of money for worthless and unnecessary work on his home but it is satisfying to see justice done and the courts taking the matter so seriously. A concerning issue in this case is that Price took the victim to the bank to withdraw cash payments on five separate occasions but it was only on the fifth occasion that the bank became suspicious by which time £32,500 had already been paid out. If the unusually large withdrawals had been spotted earlier the loss could have been much lower. The people that carry out this kind of crime operate in plain view in the heart of our communities and I would urge everyone to keep an eye out for their friends, families and neighbours, especially those that are more vulnerable.”
If you see or hear anything suspicious, contact the Police on 101 or Citizens Advice on 0808 223 1133 or for Welsh 0808 223 1144
If you need advice or support about work you are having done call Citizens Advice 0808 223 1133 or for Welsh 0808 223 1144.
