A PLUMBER who conned a pensioner out of £1,000 received a suspended jail sentence yesterday and was ordered to pay £4,000 costs.

Paul Golding took two £500 cheques from 86-year-old Norah Whittaker, telling her that she needed a new central heating boiler.

He told her that her boiler was obsolete and there were no parts available for it. The boiler was eventually repaired by another plumber for £250.

Golding, who traded as On Tap, ordered a replacement boiler costing £500, but he never collected it or paid for it, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Mrs Whittaker, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, ran up a solicitor's bill trying to recover her money and eventually contacted North Yorkshire County Council trading standards department who prosecuted Golding.

Golding, 47, of Cumberland Street, Darlington, was found guilty after a three-day trial of two charges of obtaining money transfers by deception and two of applying false trades descriptions.

After his conviction, he repaid £1,000 to Mrs Whittaker, plus £300 for her solicitor's bill.

Golding received a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years and was ordered to pay costs of £4,420.