A GANG of rogue builders who stole hundreds of thousands of pounds from the elderly and vulnerable in the West Midlands have been jailed for a total of more than 15 years.

During the two-year scam, ringleader Christopher O’Brien and others cheated their victims by falsely charging them for work on their roofs which they had not done.

O’Brien, aged 45, of Kitts Green Road, Kitts Green, had previously pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud and affray and was jailed for seven years and two months.

Matthew Bucknall, aged 40, of Crossfield Road, Stechford, was sentenced to five years and four months and Gary Woods, 50, of Circus Avenue, Chelmsley Wood, to 21 months. They had both previously admitted the conspiracy charge.

Kay Fallows, aged 24, of Hurst Croft Road, Kitts Green, who had pleaded guilty to money laundering, was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to do 80 hours’ unpaid work.

Judge Roderick Henderson said: “Each of you played a part in planned criminal activity, targeting vulnerable people living alone in their own houses.

“A number of victims have suffered substantial losses. I have no doubt that you, O’Brien, were at the forefront of it.

“All of the victims were in their late 70s or even older. They were cheated and now feel humiliated.”

Bernard Linnemann, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said Ronald George, from Shirley, was charged £1,000 for “fictitious” work done to his property in February last year.

He was then cold-called by the team the next month and was asked to hand over a number of sums of cash for building materials, with Bucknall taking him to the bank to get the money.

He said, in total, Mr George paid out £90,000 to the fraudsters and, when his roof was later examined by a chartered surveyor, he found that the actual work done was not worth more than £1,500.

Another victim, John Lock, was an 82-year-old retired fire officer and widower who lived in a semi-detached house in Bordesley Green.

He was visited by O’Brien, trading under the banner of MWW Design and Build, who claimed he had a problem with his guttering.

Mr Linnemann said the pensioner was charged various sums for alleged work and was eventually told he had dry rot and his whole roof needed replacing, which would cost £20,000.

The victim was shown some sawdust, which one of the fraudsters actually had in his pocket, a ploy used on a number of occasions, said Mr Linnemann.

He said, in total, Mr Lock was persuaded to part with £58,700 on this occasion and, when his roof was later examined by an expert, he concluded that such work that had been done should have cost no more than £8,000.

An 84-year-old woman, from Oldbury, was told by one of the rogue builders she had damp in her roof and was told it would cost £1,500 to repair, but called the police and no money actually changed hands.

A chartered surveyor later found no evidence of damp.

Mr Linnemann said another elderly man from Oldbury was told he had rot in his roof and paid £14,000 when in fact work that was done should have only cost him just over £1,300.

Anthony Bell, for O’Brien, said that he had done some work and that he suffered from health problems.

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