Two rogue traders who conned elderly people across Oxfordshire out of thousands of pounds for inadequate building work and overcharging their victims have been found guilty of fraud, unfair trading and money laundering.
Partners Trevor Bateman, 54, and David Merriman, 49, who ran AS Contractors of Oxford, were found guilty of a total of 40 counts at Oxford Crown Court on December 22. During a four-week trial, the court heard how the pair took £47,000 from an 80-year-old woman for work that a surveyor valued at £8,320. This work included a new bathroom, conservatory and solar panels.
Neither the conservatory nor the solar heating were completed and the victim had to pay a further £5,500 to another company to get the conservatory finished.
In another incident, they charged their victim £16,000 to replace the roof on her house. When the work was completed, she was surprised that lead work which she thought was included in the original quote, had not been done. She was told she had to pay a further £5,500 for this work to be finished. She paid this additional sum and the court found that the defendants knew that she had paid twice for the work.
The charges were laid following an investigation by Oxfordshire Trading Standards officers into offences at 10 homes in Oxfordshire and two in West Berkshire. These included not completing work they had started and been paid for, claiming to have finished work that they hadn't, failing to complete work to a satisfactory standard and more.
The jury at Oxford Crown Court found Trevor Bateman guilty of nine counts of fraud, seven of unfair trading and six of money laundering. He was found not guilty of two counts and the jury were undecided on four. These four counts will remain on file with the court.
David Merriman was found guilty of six counts of fraud, six of unfair trading and six of money laundering. The jury were undecided on three charges. These three will remain on file with the court.
The third defendant, former Swindon Town footballer Phil King, 44, was cleared of all charges of laundering the money through his pub, The Dolphin in Swindon, where the traders cashed their cheques.
Richard Webb, acting head of Oxfordshire's Trading Standards Service, said: “The activities of this business led to us receiving a large number of complaints from dissatisfied customers. The court heard how the defendants often started with small jobs and then moved on to larger contracts with their customers, often for work that the defendants said was needed around the property.
“In most instances, the victims were older people, often women living alone, who trusted them and could not tell whether what they said was true or not. It takes a huge amount of work to bring a case of this complexity to court and it is very pleasing to secure guilty verdicts. This should ensure that we bring a stop to their illegal and harmful practices."
Trevor Bateman and David Merriman were released on bail and are due to be sentenced on Monday, January 9.
