Cowboy builders con victim out of £10,000 for £10 job

Cowboy builders con a brain-damaged victim out of £10,000 for a £10 job.

Jimmy Connors and Francis Ward set out to con a brain-damaged homeowner. They originally quoted just £10 to repair a loose brick on the man’s roof. After taking a look at the roof though they came back down and told their victim that the chimney was collapsing. They said they could fix it though for £3,000.

The 50-year-old homeowner gave them the cash for the repair. The cousins returned a few days later and claimed that a beam had been damaged in the roof.

The victim handed over a cheque for more than £7,000 to fix the beam. The pair returned the next day and claimed another beam was damaged. This time they asked for £4,000.

When the man could not pay them they left saying that they would return later. The man’s relatives discovered that the roof was damaged and blocked the cheque. They also called the police.

The two cowboy builders were arrested by the police when they returned again to the house in October. The police discovered that Ward had another victim who he had conned out of thousands of pounds. In this case, he had even caused more than £8,000 worth of damage to his victim’s house.

Ward admitted to fraud and has been jailed for 27 months. Connors pled guilty too and received a sentence of 20 months.

Det Con Emma Pritchard commented: “The victim was vulnerable and I have no doubt this would have been obvious to Ward and Connors.

“This callous pair preyed on vulnerable people and conned them out of thousands of pounds.

“Their actions were appalling and the fully deserved a prison sentence.”

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