Con man jailed after trying to trick elderly couple into paying him for roofing work he hadn't done

9 June 2023, 15:13

A callous con man has been sent to prison for trying to trick an elderly couple out of £1,000 - with the whole scam caught on camera.

Tommy Taylor, 31, of Stourport-on-Severn near Birmingham, was caught on a doorbell camera approaching the victim’s address in Fernhill Heath in November last year, and demanding £1,000 for roofing work which never took place.

At first the victim, who appears to be an elderly man, can be heard saying he doesn't have the cash at home, bu will go and get it from a cash machine. Taylor encourages him to do so and says he will come back later.

Another doorbell video shows Taylor returning and the victim telling him: "I've paid you."

Taylor replies: 'You haven't mate. I'm the manager. I'm from the thingy, you haven't paid me. You probably gave the money to someone else. I'm the manager look. I've got ID."

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Police footage shows man trying to con elderly couple

The pensioner then says he is going to call the police and Taylor walks off quickly, telling the victim: 'Well I'll send the thingy then."

Taylor was arrested in February 2023. He denied trying to defraud the couple, and said that people had sent him to the house whom he believed had done the roofing work.

But he was convicted of fraud by false representation and Worcester Magistrates Court and jailed for 26 weeks. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £150.

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Detective Constable Simon Lloyd said: “I’m pleased to see this verdict and hope this offers  some closure and reassurance to the victim and his family.

“The criminal targeting of vulnerable persons in West Mercia will not be tolerated and we will investigate every avenue to bring those offenders to justice.

“This case is a shining example of how people’s homes can be protected with the use of home security cameras and I am sure the evidence gained played a very large part in the Magistrates’ verdict.”