A rogue trader faces jail for scamming a 90-year-old man into paying £56,000 for gardening work.
Michael Gorman, 46, took advantage of Roy Wilcox, 90, because he was vulnerable and lived alone, Reading Crown Court heard.
Gorman also charged Mr Wilcox £42,000 to install artificial grass, £900 to remove some small trees; £1,400 for a new fence; and £12,500 to install concrete paving.
His scam was only discovered when Mr Wilcox’s bank raised suspicions about the large payments.
It all started when Mr Wilcox spotted an advert for a company called MG Garden and Tree Services in Round and About Magazine.
The advert said people were offered a ‘free quote with expert advice’ and ‘10% off for OAPs’.
Mr Wilcox called the company because he wanted some trees removed and Gorman went to his home in Reading on November 8 2021.
Gorman never gave Mr Wilcox any advanced warning about what the price might be each time he carried out work and never gave him a receipt.
He then started turning up at Mr Wilcox’s home unannounced and once appeared asking for £40 in fuel cash.
Amber Athill, prosecuting, said: ‘Mr Wilcox lives alone, has no close family and is inherently vulnerable. The defendant took advantage of this.
‘Between November 2021 and April 2022, he dishonestly and gratuitously overcharged him for gardening works.’
She showed the court photographs of Mr Wilcox’s home which showed evidence of how vulnerable he was.
Ms Athill continued: ‘It shows how unlikely it was that he would want to spend thousands of pounds on outside works when his inside living conditions were sadly so poor.
‘It would be clear to any visitor or tradesman that Mr Wilcox was vulnerable and so an easy target for the defendant to befriend and defraud.’
Concerning the price of the artificial grass, Mr Wilcox told the court he was ‘a little surprised and shocked’ at the cost, but that he trusted Gorman and wrote him a cheque, which bounced because his account was overdrawn.
It was at this point Mr Wilcox’s bank raised concerns with police before Gorman was arrested and gave a no-comment interview to police in October 2022.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Wilcox said: ‘I trusted he would give me a fair price because I did not know the going rate for such work.
‘I did not know of any way to check if the cost was reasonable or not. It is my own fault if I did not look into the matter further.’
Gorman admitted three counts of fraud but was not jailed immediately so he could arrange for care to be provided for his elderly mum who has dementia.
In mitigation, Adam Williams said Gorman had been caring for his mum four times a week.
Judge Heather Norton said: ‘You targeted a very vulnerable person.
‘It is ironic that I am being persuaded to adjourn this case so that you can do something to assist someone who is also an elderly and vulnerable person.
‘There it is.’
Gorman will appear back at Reading Crown Court on January 29.
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