Woman, 88, paid £400 for shoddy work by conman

A roofer conned an 88-year-old Black Country woman out of hundreds of pounds for sub-standard work which did not need doing, a court heard.

John Frisco Smith, of Ettingshall Road, Wolverhampton, carried out the scam just weeks after he appeared in court over another botched job at an elderly man's house, the court was told.

Smith, aged 49, originally offered to clear the victim's guttering at her home in Mayfield Road, Dudley, for £20.

But he then told her that he discovered "more serious" problems that would set her back £460.

The work he did was of a "poor standard", a surveyor's report revealed, and should only have cost £94. The victim contacted Trading Standards months later after seeing a report of Smith's previous court case, worrying that she may have been "duped" by him too, Dudley Magistrates Court heard.

Mr Tim Holder, prosecuting on behalf of Dudley Council, said: "He told her he had been doing work on the house next door and offered to clear her guttering.

"He later asked if she had a problem with damp in her back room, and she said no, but he insisted there was and carried out the work." Smith pleaded guilty to three char-ges of fraud by false representation, and two counts of unfair trading at yesterday's hearing.

He was given a 12-month community order and told to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

The court heard that the victim was not given any receipts, contracts or guarantees despite being promised them, so had no official proof of the work, Mr Holder said.

Smith, trading as John's Home Improvements, took about an hour to do the work and came back the next day for payment. One of the victim's friends managed to get £60 off the asking price, the court heard.

After an inspection, a surveyor said Smith had only cleared out some leaves from the guttering on November 3, 2009.

No other work had been done to justify the £460 price tag, Mr Holder said. Smith was ordered to pay £1,000 in court costs and £315 compensation to the victim.