Fraud trio who targeted elderly caravan owners are caught in North Yorkshire

William King, 35, commanded foot soldiers in the £135,000 rogue trading fraud who operated in separate groups all over the country, including Ripon and Scunthorpe, meaning only he had the full picture.

They conned 48 pensioners, some in their 80s, out of thousands of pounds each by “dramatically” over-charging them for work on static caravans which was often not carried out.

King carried out the fraud for three years until a pensioner from Ripon complained and his scheme was dismantled in an investigation involving North Yorkshire Police and a number of other forces.

Yesterday he ended up in the dock at York Crown Court with his “lieutenant” Gavin James Findley, 30, and 20-year-old Todd Berridge who joined them towards the end of the fraud. All three men are from Newark in Nottinghamshire.

King was jailed for six years and Findley for three after both pleaded guilty to charges of fraud by false representation and conspiracy to defraud at a previous hearing. Berridge was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting charges of aiding and abetting King and Findley.

Judge Shaun Spencer QC described King as the “mastermind” of a fraud which had brought in £135,000. The gang targeted elderly people living in park mobile home sites in the UK, claiming work needed doing to their property. The judge said the work done “amounted to the minutest fraction in value of the sum paid” and the offences should be treated as a crime against the person similar to burglary.

One man from Scunthorpe, aged 80, was charged £4,000 for work that was not even done while a 73-year-old Scunthorpe woman agreed a small amount of work for £200.

But then the men “effectively began to dismantle her roof” and asked for more cash. The damage cost her £600 to put right.

The conspiracy extended to Devon, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Cheshire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire. Guildford, and Canterbury, the court heard. Prosecutor Simon Reevell said: “All the complainants are retired people. It seems very much a feature of the static caravan parks involved that all the people living there were either elderly people or people who had moved there because it offered them peace and quiet because it was an environment where there were not a lot of younger families present.”

In mitigation, the court heard King had started out trying to show his father he could be a successful businessman but was introduced to cocaine and ended up in a downward spiral of drug use.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Lesley Raffan of Harrogate CID said: “These men targeted vulnerable, elderly people and took advantage of their trusting nature. They acted with impunity across the country, often targeting several people in one neighbourhood.

“Thanks to the vigilance of a Ripon resident who did exactly the right thing by calling the police, the men were caught and brought to justice. Our advice to anyone who is approached by cold callers is simply do not buy anything from them. They may appear charming and will try to talk you into agreeing to the work, but please do not be taken in”.

Last year the Yorkshire Post revealed that a network of rogue traders is preying on dementia sufferers, amid warnings the exploitation will become more wide-spread as mental illness among the elderly rises.