A GANG of rogue traders who preyed on vulnerable householders were branded "despicable" by a judge as he jailed two of them.

One victim - an 81-year-old dementia sufferer - was abandoned at a bank after being driven there by the three crooks without his cash card.

Another pensioner - a woman with Alzheimer's Disease, 84 - handed over a £250 cheque for guttering work which was not even carried out.

The gang was traced and caught when a suspicious workman took down the number plate of their hire vehicle in Middlesbrough last summer.

Hartlepool men Michael Gales, 26, Lee Davidson, 29, and Phillip Orton, 53, hired vans "week after week" to travel around looking for work.

Teesside Crown Court heard that the trio preyed on easy targets - but their lawyers argued that they could all be honest, hard-working men.

The judge, Recorder Eric Elliott, QC, jailed Gales and Davidson for 12 months, and gave Orton an eight-month suspended prison sentence.

He described Gales and Davidson as cocky, and said they took advantage of Orton because he had a driving licence and could lease a van.

Davidson was arrested with £250 but said to police: "It's only the price of a pair of trainers . . . it's not very much, is it?"

Probation workers refused to see Gales because he was abusive, and boasted to them: "The worst case scenario is that I'll get 12 weeks."

Mr Recorder Elliott told the unemployed father: "I'm afraid you're completely wrong because you're going to get longer than that."

He told out-of-work painter Davidson: "You're not going to get those trainers with that £250. It will go to compensate your victims."

The dementia sufferer paid £60 for roofing work which was never done, and was then driven to Linthorpe Village where he was left.

A witness watched one of the scammers climbed onto the roof and simply sat on the ridge tiles for ten minutes before coming down.

Jim Withyman, for Davidson, of Shelley Grove, said he was not trying to buy himself out of jail by offering to pay compensation.

He said if he was allowed his liberty he would be able to work, for a painting firm where he is regarded as "reliable and trustworthy".

Andrew Teate, for Orton, of Windermere Road, said the father-of-five was battling alcoholism and was an easy target for the others.

The judge said: "It does seem somewhat incongruous they should use an old drunk as the driver . . . in some ways they took advantage."

Paul Cleasby said Gales, of Brenda Road,

Mr Recorder Elliott told the trio, who admitted two charges of fraud by false representation: "These were despicable acts.

"Anyone hearing the circumstances would think you should feel very, very great shame."