Bromyard and Ledbury home owners in their 80s were deceived into having unnecessary and expensive roof cleaning work done.
On 17 January, in front of Worcester Crown Court's most senior Judge, His Honour James Burbidge QC, in a case taken by Herefordshire Council's Trading Standards Service, Ciara Wortley was given a 12 months suspended prison sentence, ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work, and ordered to pay £3000 compensation and £300 costs.
Wortley, 45, of Lyndale Close, Lymington was the sole director of Owl Home Solutions Ltd, which operated from Bournemouth, and she had entered guilty pleas to six unfair trading charges, including two offences relating to an additional victim couple from Reading, also in their 80s.
Elderly consumers were targeted using databases, sometimes called succours lists. They were cold called on the telephone and the company used a ruse of pretending a surveyor needed to visit to carry out a free inspection of their insulation. Wortley actually sent unqualified salesmen to the properties, who worked on commission only.
The salesmen were sent to coerce the vulnerable home owners into having moss jet washed off their roofs and a water proof liquid sprayed onto the tiles - this is commonly known as a roof coating scam. The Ledbury victim was charged £3000 for this wholly unnecessary and worthless work, while the Bromyard home owner was conned into a contract for the roof coating and having his walls sprayed with a water proof coating, totalling £5500.
In both these cases the salesman was Darren Smith, 37, from Seymour Road, Southampton, who had pleaded guilty to three unfair trading charges, and was given 140 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £2000 in compensation and £1000 costs.
