Published date: 16 October 2015 |
Published by: Staff reporterRead more articles by Staff reporterEmail reporter
AN elderly widow was left distressed after she was badgered by two men in a roof scam fraud.
The 76-year-old victim from Rhyl had lost her husband last year and had herself overcome cancer.
But two men went to her home and said that her roof was damaged.
They offered to fix it for her and despite her persistent refusal the insisted that they would repair it.
Mold Crown Court heard how they rang the doorbell, shouted through the letter box and would not leave her alone.
Prosecuting barrister Oliver King said that the victim was so upset that she decided to leave in her car, hoping they would go away.
But when she returned they were still there – and one man was up on the roof.
That made her feels really intimidated.
She rang the police three times after the men demanded £100, £80 and then £50 to do the work.
Mr King said that the oap was about to give them £20 when her hairdresser arrived, told her not to pay them a penny, and she rang the police who arrived to arrest them at the scene.
Daniel French, aged 31, of Woodside Avenue in Kinmel Bay and Andrew Allan, aged 27, of Station Road, Bangor-on-Dee, denied fraud at an earlier hearing but were convicted.
It was the prosecution case that they had actually damaged the roof but they were cleared by the jury of a damage charge.
French was jailed for a year and Allan – who the court heard had tried to persuade French to give up and leave – received ten months for the fraud.
But Allan was in breach of a previous suspended sentence, ten months of which were activated consecutively, making 20 months in all.
The Judge, Miss Recorder Gaynor Lloyd, said that said it was an attempt at confidence trickery which had a significant impact on the victim.
“You falsely represented that there was damage to her roof. She was not taken in by your attempt at confidence trickery,” she said.
But they persisted to try and get her to pay them for repair work.
“She tried every which way to get you to leave her alone,” she said.
The victim even drove off in the car but they were still there on her return with Allan up on the roof.
Mr King told how the woman had been affected by the incident, felt depressed, did not want to go out and did not want people to know that she was in.
She was terrified when the door bell rang.
Mr King told how she felt extremely vulnerable. She told how she used to be such a strong person but the incident in October of last year had really taken it out of her.
He said that it was the prosecution case that she had been targeted because of her vulnerability.
Matthew Curtis, for Allan, said that it was not part of a pattern of offending.
It was accepted that it was a serious matter with aggravating features.
Sion ap Mihangel, for French, said that if he was allowed his liberty then he could pay compensation.
For full story see - http://www.rhyljournal.co.uk/news/153857/two-men-jailed-after-targeting-76-year-old-rhyl-cancer-survivor-in-roof-scam-fraud.aspx
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