A Faversham man has been jailed for three years after conning an 80 year old Beckenham resident out of £21,700.
Phillip Webb, aged 58, from Faversham, Kent had earlier pleaded guilty to fraud by misrepresentation after persuading the resident he needed essential repairs to the guttering on his house, which the resident agreed to have done. Further work was carried out without his permission and he was charged a total of £21,700 for work which was later valued by a Trading Standards appointed expert at £500. Webb was issued with a 5 year Criminal Behaviour Order which bans him from cold calling anywhere in England and Wales.
Trading Standards were alerted by a concerned neighbour who called the team after seeing the rapid response number advertised locally. Officers visited the victim and while they were there Webb unexpectedly turned up but ran off when he saw them. He was later arrested by police on a different matter and presented to Trading Standards for questioning.
Webb is well known to Bromley Trading Standards who have previously prosecuted him for similar offences, the most recent in 2012 when he was jailed for 8 weeks and given a 2 year ASBO banning him from trading in the borough. In 2011 he was imprisoned for 8 weeks suspended for a year for charging vulnerable residents for bogus repairs.
On sentencing the Judge said the offences “were serious and preying on elderly people rightly draws public disgust and outrage. The impact on the victim was substantial”.
A victim impact statement was read out in court by the consumer who said: “I used to take people at their face value and trusted them in what they said. I am now less confident and don’t trust people. On the last day he was here he was aggressive, and looking back I think I was a bit afraid of him”.
The Trading Standards Rapid Response Team can be contacted on 07903 852090.
If you are approached by cold callers do not engage with them. If you do then check with trading standards at the above number before letting them do any work or paying them any money. You can also contact Action Fraud at http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/ or phone them on 0300 123 2040
If you have an elderly or vulnerable neighbour who may be being scammed you should report it as happened in this case.
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