main content Cold-calling builders caught in the act

Two builders were sentenced today (24 June 2005) to ten months imprisonment each, and ordered to pay £520 each, after attempting to carry out unnecessary repairs to a vulnerable pensioner’s roof.

Croydon Crown Court heard that William Smith, 43 of Culverstone, Kent and Charles King, 56, of Culverstone, Kent working as Central Builders, cold-called an elderly Beckenham householder on 12 August 2004, claiming that they had noticed defects to his roof, which would cost £15 to repair.

The householder - a man aged 70 years - was then informed that there was more work than first anticipated and that extensive repairs costing £3000 would be needed. The builders demanded a deposit of £500 and offered to drive the resident to the bank to collect the money, which he refused.

The man visited the bank on his own and withdrew £420 which he gave to the builders but they returned the next day (13 August) to tell him that the price had gone up to £3220 and began work.

Trading standards officers from Bromley Council were made aware of what was going on when one of their team noticed the builders' van - which had been reported as suspicious on a previous occasion - parked outside the pensioner's house. They approached the victim and established possible offences had been committed.

Police were called and arrested Smith and King, who had already begun work on the elderly residents roof. The roof was later examined by an engineer, who reported the work to have been largely unnecessary and partially completed, to a poor standard.

Councillor Neil Reddin, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Leisure and Chairman of the Safer Bromley Partnership said: ‘As these prison sentences show, Bromley Council is committed to working with Police to crack down on anyone who thinks they can get away with conning residents out of large sums of money. Cold-calling by bogus tradesmen is a cruel and calculating way of targeting vulnerable people who are often unaware of what may be happening. Maintaining the safety of Bromley’s vulnerable elderly residents is a crucial part of the work of the Safer Bromley Partnership.’

DC Patrick O’rourke from Bromley CID said: ‘This is a great example of partnership work bringing these two men to justice. Con-men can be very plausible and are often well organised, so it can be difficult for people to tell that they are being conned. The message for anyone answering their door to a stranger is a simple one - say no to doorstep callers. Anyone who is suspicious of a doorstep caller should report incidents to either the police or to trading standards. ’

Note to editors:

Householders are advised:

• not let any anyone they do not know into their home without being shown identification; 
• not to keep large amounts of cash in the house; and
• keep front gardens and the fronts of houses tidy to make them a less obvious target