A COWBOY builder has been jailed for conning a Stourbridge pensioner out of more than £6,000 for shoddy work.

Dodgy Lee Gardner ripped off the 77-year-old while trading as Xpert Roofing of Brownfield Road, Shard End, Birmingham,

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how Gardner, aged 29, had cold the man in Stourbridge in March 2014 and offered to clean his gutters for free.

He then quoted £500 to re-bed ridge tiles which then escalated to £6,200 for a new roof.

When the pensioner tried to exercise his cancellation rights, Gardner refused to accept the cancellation and carried out the work so badly the roof had to be replaced.

Gardner was found guilty of four counts of fraud and a further offence under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations including one charge of fraud by failing dishonestly to disclose information about cancellation rights.

He was also convicted of one charge under consumer protection regulations of contravening the requirements of due diligence.

He was jailed for two years and disqualified from driving following the court hearing, which was led by Dudley Council’s trading standards.

The court also imposed a six year Criminal Behaviour Order banning Gardner from entering any address in the UK for the purposes of offering services or being involved in offering services on anyone else’s behalf of any description including roofing, building, gardening or maintenance.

Councillor Rachel Harris, Dudley cabinet member responsible for trading standards, said: “This prosecution sends out a clear message that our trading standards officers will protect consumers from the activity of rogue traders who flout the law and carry out sub-standard work.

“This kind of activity causes a huge amount distress to the victims who have worked hard and saved to pay for improvements to their home and are then badly let down.

“We are particularly pleased to see a banning order applied for six years which will continue to see consumers, not just within Dudley, protected from this rogue trader for a period well beyond the custodial sentence.”