A BALSALL Common rogue roofer has been handed a suspended sentence and 30 hours community service after defrauding a Kenilworth resident.
Louis William Gaskin, 21-year-old of Windmill Land, was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for two years after he defrauded a resident of £42,840 and nearly a further £21,600.
Gaskin traded as Pitch Roofing Ltd when he knocked on a door of a retired resident, he said the house had some loose tiles and the whole rood would need replacing.
The homeowner was given a quote of around £17,000 for the work and Gaskin began straight away.
When the work was finished he gave the homeowner a bill for £33,420, which he said was due to taking down the chimney stack at the back of the house.
The prosecution’s expert surveyor later said the removal of the chimney should only have cost a few hundred pounds.
Gaskin returned to the property claiming that there was ‘a problem with the VAT’ and requested a further payment of around £9,250.
On this visit, the homeowner told Gaskin that water had been pouring from the gutters and soffits.
He went back up onto the roof and then claimed that there were ‘bigger problems’ which he could fix for £18,000 but would only accept cash.
The homeowner asked Gaskin what he should say to the bank to explain why he was trying to withdraw such a large amount of cash, and the roofer phoned his father for advice who told him he would just need to find a suitable explanation.
The homeowner agreed to try and withdraw half the amount, £9000.
When the homeowner visited the bank to take the cash out, the bank was concerned and stopped him from doing so.
Warwickshire Trading Standards was then called in to investigate. On hearing that Trading Standards were involved, Gaskin left the homeowner’s property abruptly, taking with him his tools, materials he had brought and his victim’s paperwork.
Trading Standards Officers asked an independent expert building surveyor to examine the work.
He stated that the roof tiles appeared to have been installed in such a way that they were defective and did not conform with current British Standards.
The surveyor stated that the work carried out was so poor that he valued it zero.
The homeowner was also left to pay another trader £3720 to carry out remedial work and fix the problems caused by Mr Gaskin.
Warwickshire County Councillor Andy Crump, said: “This prosecution was necessary to protect the people of Kenilworth and Warwickshire.
“Mr Gaskin massively overcharged for the work he did, falsely claimed that work was needed when it wasn’t and tried to make the homeowner pay a ‘VAT bill’ that didn’t exist.”
In mitigation, Mr Balbir Singh of Equity Chambers, representing Mr Gaskin stated that his client was 19 at the time the offences and had admitted to them at an early stage.
Adding he had not re-offended in the 15 months since then and his personal circumstances had now improved.
He was married and in work as the sole breadwinner.
Mr Balbir also said Mr Gaskin had paid back £36,000 to his victim, money he had borrowed from his family, a debt it would take him a long time to pay back.
