A ROGUE trader and his uncle have been sentenced for ripping off an 80-year-old woman who paid £8,800 for substandard work which should have cost a fraction of what they demanded.

The men, Luke Cooney, 21, from Dorset, and Darren Swales, 40, of Bedale, were arrested after staff at the victim’s building society became suspicious when she drew out large amounts of money on consecutive days.

The woman, from Morton on Swale, near Northallerton, was cold-called by Cooney, who said work to tarmac her driveway would cost £1,200.

He gradually demanded more money claiming there were problems with the job and before it was finished a large hole filled with water had appeared.

Cooney claimed a water pipe had burst. But when North Yorkshire County Council’s trading standards investigated an expert found no evidence of work done on the base of the drive, a Tarmac surface had been badly laid and was in poor condition, with water forced up by the use of a roller during heavy rain.

He said the work should have cost no more than £2,500.

Cooney admitted fraud and consumer protection offences at Bournemouth Crown Court, following an investigation involving five victims by Dorset County Council Trading Standards and was sentenced to three years' jail.

Swales admitted money laundering at Teesside Crown Court and was sentenced to six months' prison, suspended for 18 months.

Judge Armstrong said Swales had joined the enterprise thinking it was legitimate, but when it had become clear what was happening, Swales had stood by his nephew, and taken wages.

He said it was “serious and really mean offending”, and ordered Swales to pay £1,000 in compensation to the victim and £500 costs.

Sentencing at Bournemouth, Judge Fuller QC told Cooney his actions towards the Morton on Swale woman was "gross and despicable taking advantage of a vulnerable individual".

He added: “You deliberately set about targeting elderly and vulnerable people. You chose the elderly as they were vulnerable and tricked them and caused them to pay you more money. These cases cause untold worry to the victims.”

Speaking after the case, the elderly victim said: “The support and encouragement of trading standards helped me through what can only be described as a very stressful time and I am delighted that all that hard work has paid off.”

County councillor Chris Metcalfe added: “We are very grateful for the actions of the staff at this victim’s building society for taking steps to safeguard their customer and alert us about the offending."