A CUMBRIAN woman was among dozens who were defrauded by two 'greedy' brothers who conned more than £100,000 from their victims.

Nathan King, 38, of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, and John King, 34, of Coventry, have been jailed for their part in scamming 27 elderly and vulnerable residents on park home sites across the country.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that thay had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and money laundering offences on the first day of their trial at Teesside Crown Court.

The frauds involved the deliberate targeting of park home property owners on sites across the country from North Yorkshire to Northumberland and down to Somerset.

The majority of victims were elderly and vulnerable. Park homes are notoriously difficult to keep warm and the brothers claimed they could fit external under-floor insulation to park home properties to help prevent heat loss. They also made claims that jacks supporting the properties needed replacing and, in some cases, frightened victims by telling them their homes were in danger of collapsing if the work was not done. Victims were charged grossly inflated amounts for poor-quality and unnecessary work, or work that provided none of the claimed benefits.

The brother’s foreman, Leon Williams, 29, (also known as Falcnor), also of Coventry, was also sentenced after pleading guilty to his part in the frauds by leading the gangs of workers, suggesting additional works to properties, completing company paperwork and taking payment from victims.

Williams was arrested with other workers in March 2015 at the home of an 82-year-old vulnerable woman living alone in the Skipton area. Attempts had been made to defraud her of £7,000.

The brothers were subsequently arrested in August 2015 during joint arrest and search operations with Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Lincolnshire police.

The court heard victim impact statements in which a number of the victims described their loss of confidence, the impact on their health, the extent of their financial losses and their loss of faith and trust in engaging traders. Many now face further costs for remedial works required to their homes.

Speaking after the case, Matt O’Neill, Assistant Director for Growth, Planning and Trading Standards at North Yorkshire County Council, said: “This case demonstrates yet again the unscrupulous and determined way in which doorstep crime offenders are prepared to target the most vulnerable and cause them financial detriment and distress. We are delighted with the result and particularly the fact that we have been able to compensate all the victims in full. We remain committed to protecting our vulnerable residents and would like to thank all our partners who assisted with this case.”

The case involved a total of 27 victims, defrauded of more than £100,000 and included:

  • A 68-year-old woman with hearing problems living alone in North Yorkshire, defrauded of £2,700. She was subjected to high-pressure sales techniques and was intimidated into agreeing to the work.
  • A 79-year-old widow from Lincolnshire defrauded of £8,300.
  • A 65-year-old woman living alone in Lancashire, defrauded of £9,500.
  • Two victims living in Lancashire, each defrauded of £6,000.
  • A 55-year-old woman living alone in Gloucestershire, defrauded of £5,500.
  • A 64-year-old man living alone in the Bath area, defrauded of £11,700 by the Kings and subsequently by their associate.
  • A 71-year-old woman living alone in Cumbria, defrauded of £6,000.
  • A 74-year-old man from Lancashire, who had been widowed the previous month, defrauded of £17,400.

Sentencing the men, His Honour Judge Ashurst told them: “This is in my judgement a bad case of its type. You are brazen, greedy and unscrupulous men.”

Nathan and John King were each sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment. Leon Williams was given 10 months suspended for two years and ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work for the community. Nathan King was also disqualified from being a company director for five years.

An agreement was reached with the defence for £112,930 to be paid from the Kings’ frozen bank accounts to compensate all 27 victims in full immediately, prior to full confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act to remove the Kings’ assets.

The Kings were also imprisoned for four months in January 2017 after pleading guilty to contempt of court for breaching Proceeds of Crime Act restraint orders in the case.

The prosecution followed an extensive investigation by the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Team based at North Yorkshire County Council Trading Standards. The team, also known as Operation Gauntlet, tackles all forms of fraud against vulnerable adults and consists of trading standards officers, police officers and a safeguarding officer from Health and Adult Services.

In the past year, the team has convicted 21 offenders who deliberately defrauded elderly and vulnerable victims, achieving sentences totalling over 23 years.

Assistance was also provided in the case by a number of other trading standards services and funding was received from the National Tasking Group of National Trading Standards to assist with expert witness fees in the case.