A ROGUE builder from Coventry who ‘cynically exploited’ and ‘intimidated’ his victims has been jailed for five years.
Adam Jones, 50 of Grange Road, Longford targeted people from Coventry, Warwickshire and further afield.
He offered roofing, gardening and general building work and traded under several names.
These included Global Roofing, Rainbow Roofing and Drives and Landscape Gardening.
At the sentence hearing His Honour Judge Potter heard Jones was a fraudster who had ‘cynically exploited’ and ‘intimidated’ his victims.
Many of his victims were very elderly and vulnerable.
He got them to pay extortionate amounts of money for poor quality work which was sometimes not even needed.
He attempted to charge his victims around £50,000, before eventually taking almost £30,000.
The investigation was launched by Warwickshire County Council after Jones door-knocked an elderly Kenilworth resident, offering to jet wash the moss off his roof.
However, over the next few weeks, Jones discovered further ‘problems’ with the roof.
The victim paid him over £26,000, his life savings, more than double the cost of a brand-new roof.
Jones then falsely claimed he was moving to Australia to dissuade the victim from chasing him to try and get his money back.
A Chartered Surveyor examined the roof and concluded work to remove the moss and replace the felt was unnecessary.
He also deemed the jet washing had damaged the tiles, and the costs far outweighed the value of the work undertaken.
This was one of several incidents uncovered, and none of his victims received cancellation rights.
These rights should be provided to everyone who employs someone offering work on the doorstep.
This was despite being advised by Trading Standards to do so.
Despite being charged with fraud, Jones continued to offend, with a Coventrian being charged £1000 for him to prune a willow tree.
But Jones and his men, working without safety equipment, cut the tree in half, causing damage when it fell.
At Warwick Crown Court on Monday 23rd October 2023, Jones pleaded guilty to two offences under the Fraud Act 2006.
As well as the jail term, Jones was handed a 20-year Criminal Behaviour Order.
This prohibits Jones from visiting the homes of consumers to tout for business or take money for goods or services.
Jones had 17 previous convictions from courts across the country stretching back almost 20 years and was prosecuted by Leicestershire Trading Standards in 2017.
Hannah Williams, representing Jones said her client had pleaded guilty before the trial, that he had some health issue, and that he was tackling an alcohol problem.
