Conman who fleeced elderly jailed for three years

expectations. Richard Bennett, prosecuting, told the court that Donoher had committed “a confidence fraud involving the deliberate targeting of a large number of vulnerable people.”

He said telephone numbers local to the victims were advertised for Donoher’s businesses in a “deliberate ploy to provide a sense of security” that the trader lived nearby.

After invoicing customers for his firms’ shoddy work, Donoher would launder the cheques through a clearing account operated by a company called The Money Shop, keeping the cash minus commission.

Mr Bennett said that, when interviewed by trading standard officers, Donoher “accepted being involved in certain transactions but denied being dishonest.

“He asserted that if a householder had been overcharged then it was the fault of others and not him. When confronted with the banking evidence he accepted cashing cheques from the various householders.”

Judge Howard Crowson, sentencing, said Donoher had been an “enthusiastic participant” in a “deliberately planned and professional fraud” that took advantage of vulnerable victims. He said Mrs Coatman’s case was particularly distressing.

“When you arrived,” the judge told Donoher, “she had just begun to deal with the death of her husband the day before and wanting to be relieved of the stress of her filling drains, but she was then taken advantage of by you.”

Adrian Dent, defending, told the court that Donoher had drink and drug problems in the past and there was no prospect of the money being repaid.

“He is insistent that there be no excuses,” Mr Dent added. “He is going to take his punishment and hopefully start afresh with a life that does not involve dishonesty.”

The scam was uncovered by North Yorkshire Council’s Trading Standards and Planning Services.