TWO rogue traders who targeted elderly and vulnerable homeowners and undertook “unnecessary and inadequate” work charging thousands of pounds have been jailed.

Thomas Edward Turner, 41, who lived on a traveller site in Dorset, became involved in a fraudulent building company known as All Seasons when he owed money to the owners of the site.

Aaron Brown, 22, of Somerset, allowed the use of his bank account twice to transfer cash from the fraudulent jobs to the value of £25,000.

Turner pleaded guilty to participating in fraudulent business and Brown was found guilty at trial.

They were both sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Monday, March 22.

In April 2018, a resident in Gladstone Close, Christchurch, noticed men cleaning the gutters of the garage opposite hers, the court heard.

Turner introduced himself and told her that she needed a new felt roof and showed her a video of moss and lichen which had accumulated on the roof.

He asked for £1,950 for the work, saying that if she paid cash he would not charge her VAT.

Turner also stated that the pathway needed repairing, claiming asbestos would have been “chucked down with the boulders” when the slabs were replaced.

He charged £10,000 for the work. While that work was being completed, he told the resident her roof needed replacing, claiming the tiles were cracked and he quoted £30,000 for the work.

The resident didn’t want to the work carried out and Turner said for £15,000 he could mend the broken tiles.

Chartered surveyor Philip Sealy inspected the property and found the felt laid on the roof was laid on top of the original felt, there was no evidence of asbestos in the footpath, cleaning of the roof reduced the life expectancy of the tiles by five to ten years and there was no practical reason to clean the tiles.

Mr Sealey said the work to the garage roof should have cost no more than £1,701.40 and £1,049.97 for the footpath. Turner charged the woman £26,950.

Turner also told a Fenrdown man in Russet Close who was sight-impaired that work needed doing to his roof. Turner quoted £2,500 to replace the tiles.

He then quoted a “special price” of £4,500 to remove moss from the roof, the money was transferred to Brown’s account.

Mr Sealey inspected the property and found the work was not necessary, and if it was it should have cost no more than £2,000. He said the jet-washing of the roof reduced the life-span of the tiles by ten years.

Turner orchestrated more fraudulent work in Devises, Andover, Exeter and Hampshire, making £70,000.

Prosecuting, Ethu Crorie said he was caught when the daughter of a man phoned the police after hearing the work while on the phone to her father.

Mitigating for Turner, Malcolm Gibney said Turner’s version of events was true, that the company belonged to the “O’Donnell brothers” whom he owed money to for a loan.

They threatened him with violence if he didn’t pay the money back.

Mitigating for Brown, Mark Ashley said he was an immature man who ran into financial difficulty.

Judge Stephen Climie sentenced Turner to two years eight months imprisonment and Brown to ten months imprisonment.