A FRAUDSTER who conned a pensioner out of £10,000 tried to lie his way out of trouble by claiming the victim was losing his memory.

John Brian Townson, a plumber and heating engineer by trade, charged 80-year-old William Burrows £4,596 for work he did on the leaking roof at his Barrowford home.

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But a building surveyor later found this work was worthless and the roof still needed fixing, Burnley Crown Court heard.

Townson, 45, of Lower Clough Street, Barrowford admitted one count of fraud in relation to the roof work and a second charge of fraud with regards to a fictitious investment scheme in which he guaranteed Mr Burrows returns of up to 24 per cent.

The prosecution said the fake investment scheme was just another way of conning the elderly victim out of another £4,500.

When Townson was caught out he took all paper work relating to the investments off Mr Burrows and called him a liar when questioned about it by investigators from Lancashire Trading Standards.

The court heard that Mr Burrows first met Townson in 2009 when he commissioned his company AWP Plumbing and Heating, to do work on his boiler.

Townson noticed a leak at the point the outhouse joins the main house and offered to fix it.

He charged £1,791 for the roofing and the minor work on the boiler, the court heard. He continued to do work on the roof over the following years, including separate repairs in 2012 which he charged over £1,500 for.

Prosecuting David Traynor said: “Surprisingly, and perhaps a reflection of the trust Mr Burrows placed in the defendant, alarm bells had not started to ring and he called him back again, just two months later, to deal with a problem he was having with his shower doors.

“Somehow Townson got back on the roof again when further work was carried out to deal with the same leak.

“To this day that leak has still not been fixed but it has cost Mr Burrows £4,596. Include the £1,800 shower doors and this takes the total bill to £6,396.”

When he inspected the roof consulting building surveyor Don Waterworth found that Townson had failed to undertake the roof felt replacement he had claimed to have done twice. Mr Waterworth condemned the work as having ‘no purpose or value’.

In the same year the court heard that Townson, told Mr Burrows he was putting his own money into an investment scheme that paid returns of 19.8 per cent and encouraged the pensioner to join.

Mr Burrows handed over £2,500 on the understanding he would receive £500 interest in the first year, the court heard.

The victim received a letter reassuring him he had a joint investment with Townson, but the address on the sender’s panel was that of the defendant.

In October 2013 he invested a further £2,000 on the understanding he would make £1,700.

By September 2014 Mr Burrows had received nothing back and went to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) for help. The case worker told him to ask for his money back and took photocopies of the documents.

The court heard Townson later took all the documents off Mr Burrows claiming he had lost his own, but never returned them.

Townson did pay £500 back and also claimed he had paid back a further £1,200.

When CAB tried to intervene, Mr Townson told them he had no intention of paying the money back.

He was interviewed by trading standards investigators and claimed in a written statement that Mr Burrows was a close friend and he had carried out small jobs free of charge.

He also claimed the investment was a loan and said Mr Burrows was unable to produce documentary evidence because it never existed and his memory was fading.

The court heard when the paperwork was produced Townson declined to comment any further.

Townson had since paid the money back, a ‘significant factor’ as to why Recorder Simon Medland said he wasn’t imposing an immediate custodial sentence.

Judge Medland said: “It is of critical importance in this case that despite your claims, denials contradictions in the early stages, you have come around to the truth and re-paid the defendant in full.”

Townson, who has 21 previous convictions, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, suspended for 15 months and ordered to pay £1,564 costs and a £100 victim surcharge. He was also made subject to a 12 month supervision order.

Nick McNamara, Lancashire County Council Trading Standards service, said: "These were despicable frauds committed over a long period against an elderly and trusting gentleman.

"Townson proved to be incompetent and dishonest in equal measure and, were it not for the intervention of Trading Standards and the CAB, who knows where these crimes might have ended up?

"Consumers looking for a competent and vetted tradesman should contact Lancashire Trading Standard's Safe Trader scheme on 0303 333 1111."