Fraudulent roofer John Goodwin, 45, (pictured) has been banned from cold calling for 10 years by a judge who jailed him for two years and nine months
A ‘despicable’ rogue trader has been jailed after he conned pensioners out of more than £30,000 – including a cancer sufferer and her 92-year-old visually-impaired husband.
Fraudulent roofer John Goodwin, 45, preyed on three couples in Portsmouth, Hampshire between July and September 2017.
He conned them out of a total of £33,900, including £10,300 from one couple that had saved the money for their own funerals.
Goodwin targeted the ‘vulnerable’ pensioners by cold-calling them and lying to them by claiming they needed unnecessary roofing work.
Now, the 45-year-old has been banned from cold calling for 10 years by a judge who jailed him for two years and nine months.
The three couples were cold-called by Goodwin, of Hinckley, Leicestershire, who wore a Checkatrade logo on his top despite being removed from the recommendation site.
He told married couple John, 92, and Barbara Dewing, an 86 year old cancer patient, that he could repair their roofing for £9,000 – and add a window in the roof for £1,300.
None of the work was needed, prosecutor Malcolm Gibney told the court.
Visually impaired Mr Dewing was unable to check the work but the alarm was raised by Citizens’ Advice when Mr Dewing turned to them to question whether the work had been over-priced.
Goodwin conned John, 92, (left) and Barbara Dewing, (second-from-left) an 86 year old cancer patient. He went on to fleece the Dewings’ neighbours, Michael Hatch, 80, and his wife Ellen, 78 (pictured right, with their son-in-law 64-year-old Trevor Hallett – far right)
Portsmouth Crown Court heard experts inspected both properties and found ‘there was no need for those works to be done at all, it was completely unnecessary’ (pictured, some of the roofing carried out by Goodwin)
Goodwin targeted ‘vulnerable’ pensioners by cold-calling them and lying to them by claiming they needed unnecessary roofing work (pictured some of the roofing work he carried out)
Goodwin, who operated Diamond Roofing Services Ltd, went on to fleece the Dewings’ neighbours, Michael Hatch, 80, and his wife Ellen, 78, who also has cancer.
They handed over £14,000 when Goodwin told them they had broken tiles that needed replacing, also convincing them to have a window put in, and he could do it as he was ‘in the area’.
He quoted £9,000 for the roof and £3,000 for the window.
Portsmouth Crown Court heard experts inspected both properties and found ‘there was no need for those works to be done at all, it was completely unnecessary’.
A third couple, Jacqueline Pratt, 72, and her husband Frederick, 84, paid £9,500 to Goodwin for a fibreglass roof on a shed and for him to carry out maintenance work on their roof.
Goodwin claimed the roof needed doing after seeing a ‘leak’ in the downstairs toilet ceiling which he used while doing work on the shed.
A third couple, Jacqueline Pratt, 72, (left with Amy Palmer from Trading Standards) and her husband Frederick, 84, paid £9,500 to Goodwin. But the work was not necessary
Goodwin admitted six charges of fraud. A criminal behaviour order bans him from cold calling for 10 years along with a series of tight rules on his business operation (pictured, some of the work he carried out)
Jailing Goodwin, Judge Simon Foster said there was ‘no doubt’ he preyed on the elderly (pictured some of the roofing work he carried out)
Prosecutor Mr Gibney said it was ‘not ordinary cold calling’ but was ‘targeting vulnerable people’ and in each case the work was not checked.
Jailing Goodwin, Judge Simon Foster said: ‘The impact on elderly people from offences like these make them particularly despicable.
‘There’s no doubt that you prey on the elderly for your own ends.’
Mitigating, Jeffrey Lamb told the court Goodwin was ‘a hard-working man’. He added: ‘This is something out of the ordinary.’
Goodwin admitted six charges of fraud.
A criminal behaviour order bans him from cold calling for 10 years along with a series of tight rules on his business operation.
After the sentencing, Portsmouth City Council cabinet member for community safety Lee Hunt said: ‘It shows that the city council and Trading Standards are working with all sorts of enforcement agencies and we will continue to safeguard our community.’
