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Cowboy roofer who preyed on Black Country pensioners gets two years

A cowboy roofer who preyed on Black Country pensioners was starting a two-year jail sentence today.

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Lee Gardner ran Xpert Roofing without qualifications, insurance or any actual expertise in the trade.

The 29-year-old, who worked a 16-hour week to ensure he could still collect state benefits, paid other inept labourers met by chance in pubs to do the hard graft.

Mr Mark Jackson, prosecuting for Dudley Council, told Wolverhampton Crown Court: "He didn't even know their surnames. He was a rogue trader who used dishonest, deceptive and misleading sales techniques."

Gardner charged 77-year-old Christopher Hall £500 for the 45 minutes it took to re-bed ridge tiles to the 77-year-old's home in Bowling Green Road, Stourbridge in March 2014 before claiming the whole roof needed repairing.

He offered to do the job for £5,700 that included a 'pensioner discount.' Mr Hall was not told he had the right to cancel when he phoned the next day after having had second thoughts, so the job started as planned.

His son discovered that Xpert Roofing did not trade from the business address given on its paperwork and alerted trading standards. A chartered surveyor sent to check immediately ordered the roofers from the site because their scaffolding was dangerous. Further inquiries revealed so many faults in the work already completed that it all had to be done again by real experts.

Eight days later Shirley Gulley called Gardner to fix leaking guttering at her home in Ringwood Road, Bushbury after seeing his firm advertised in Yellow Pages. He charged £750 for the work which soared to £1,570 after allegedly discovering more problems.

Father-of-two Gardner, of Brownfield Road, Shard End, who had twice been warned by trading standards about the way he did business, was convicted of unfair trading after a trial.

He was found guilty of four charges and admitted a fifth.

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