Conman preyed on pensioner who paid him £11,500 for work on his home
A fraudster who befriended and conned a pensioner into paying him £11,500 for work on his home has been told to pay nearly all of it back.
David Allen cold-called 67-year-old Christopher Dutton at his Rugeley bungalow and persuaded him to hand over £9,000 for maintenance work, which had been 'massively' overpriced.
The trickster then set about buddying up to his victim, showing him a motorbike and taking him on a walk at Birches Valley on Cannock Chase.
Allen, 56, returned to Mr Dutton's bungalow days later and conned him of a further £2,500.
An investigation by Staffordshire trading standards later revealed a reasonable price for all the work completed would have been just £1,770.
At Birmingham Magistrates' Court this week, Allen was told to pay the amount overcharged back to Mr Dutton, totalling £9,780.
Recorder Anthony Lowe also issued a 16 month suspended jail term and ruled Allen must pay court costs of £12,188.30.
The court heard that Allen cold-called at Mr Dutton's home in June 2014, trading as Rooftop Solutions.
Mr Ben Mills, prosecuting, said Allen told Mr Dutton he had a loose roof tile.
The prosecutor, added: "Mr Dutton invited them in as he is a trusting man. It didn't take long for the defendant to persuade Mr Dutton a number of things needed to be done."
Mr Dutton handed over £9,000 having been quoted for roof tiles to be removed, re-bedding and for his rear conservatory to be taken down.
Mr Mills said: "It is plain that the overriding intention was to persuade Mr Dutton to have work done which was not strictly necessary and to massively and dishonestly overcharge him."
The court heard Allen and his workers spent seven days carrying out the work, much of which was to a poor standard.
It was after learning Mr Dutton was a motorbike enthusiast that Allen took him to see his bike and later to Cannock Chase.
After the trip he secured a further £2,500 having convinced Mr Dutton he needed solar reflective paint on his home.
A neighbour who suspected wrong-doing informed a policeman and a probe was launched.
Allen, of Kinghurst, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to one count of dishonestly making a false representation in order to make gains for himself at an earlier hearing.
On Monday David Munro, defending, said: "My client had been a victim of a theft himself not long before. This appears to be a short-cut to resolve that."
