Rogue roofer Phillip Small worked to foil over £106,000 from around 12 elderly victims across Devon, Cornwall and the South West.
Over the three year period, 41-year-old Small targeted people that lived alone and convinced them that they needed minor repair work completing, whilst initially quoting reasonable fees for the improvements. He then went onto demand huge sums of money to finish the work, often leaving his victims homes in an unliveable state until they handed the money over. In one instance Small took away parts of the roof, leaving it open to wet weather, and refused to fix the damage unless the victim handed over the fee.
He focused on scamming vulnerable residents across the South West, some even suffered from Alzheimers, were widowed or partially blind. As well as being left out of pocket, all 12 of his victims were left in a high state of distress. Small appeared at Exeter Crown Court, where he received a sentence of 2 and a half years.
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