Roof fraudsters are facing jail sentence for targeting old and vulnerable
The bosses of a roofing company who overcharged elderly customers thousands for thermal roof coating could be facing jail after they were found guilty of fraud.
Alan Wilson and Christopher Wilkes, directors of Therma Seal (Thermal Coatings) UK, ran aggressive sales techniques to persuade potential clients, many of whom were pensioners in the Dudley area, to part with thousands of pounds for the paint.
Their staff even made bogus claims the coating had been used on space agency NASA to protect shuttles from extreme temperatures.
One 91-year-old victim paid £13,000 to have the coating applied to her roof when the real value for the work was £1,050.
Wilson, aged 54, of Fazeley Road, Tamworth, and Wilkes, aged 45, of Tanworth Lane, Solihull, were found guilty by a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday.
Judge Martin Walsh said they could be facing custody when they return to be sentenced on Monday.
A third defendant, Julie Barrett, 50, of Hewell Avenue, Bromsgrove, who was a sales representative with Therma Seal, was convicted of one count of fraud and cleared of nine others.
She will be sentenced on April 1 following the completion of a pre-sentence report.
The judge said she was likely to be given a community sentence.
The trio were charged with 15 offences in relation to their activities with Therma Seal (Thermal Coatings) UK.
The charges included the production of glossy brochures and leaflets containing bogus claims about the coating, including that it could reduce heat loss through the roof by 25 per cent and make a heat saving of between 15 per cent and 40 per cent.
They also made false claims about themselves, such as being members of the Guild of Master Craftsmen.
But Mark Jackson, prosecuting, rubbished the information they provided, saying a University of Salford study showed the coating could increase thermal resistance by 5.3 per cent.
He said the study also did not suggest the product could provide a 25 per cent heat saving.
He added the directors made false claims about the cost of re-roofing to entice customers into buying the paint.
He said: "This was, as I told you at the outset, a scam from start to finish, carefully planned, skilfully executed.
"Lie after lie after lie is what is going on here and the whole process comes together for them beautifully."
The average age of the victims was 74, but it was a 52-year-old potential customer who raised concerns about the aggressive sales techniques employed by Barrett and the possibility older and more vulnerable residents could be susceptible to the marketing ploy.
