A roofer who ripped off five elderly customers to the tune of more than £30,000 has avoided jail.
Tyrone Young received a suspended sentence at Burnley Crown Court on Friday and was told he will need to pay back £11,500 in compensation to his customers, as well as £500 in court costs after he carried out “appalling” and “amateurish” roofing work on homes in Bacup and Blackburn.
Young, 30, of Ewood Caravan Park, Aqueduct Road, Blackburn, operated alongside Abraham Young and James Young under the business name Regal Roofing, and completed shoddy work on the homes of four retirees and one working man in his 70s, which was all required to be redone by alternative contractors.
The repairs to fix his mistakes cost his customers an additional £30,000 in total, after they had already paid out more than £38,000 for the initial work.
At an earlier hearing, Young pleaded guilty to 10 offences under the unfair trading regulations, which included multiple counts of engaging in a commercial practice which is a misleading omission, as well as acting as a trader knowingly/recklessly engaging in a commercial practice.
Charges arising from the same incidents against James Young, 35, and Abraham Isaac Young, 22, both of Ewood Caravan Site, were withdrawn.
Prosecuting, Jack Troup told the court Young had been contacted by the first complainant, Leslie Hamilton, in November 2020, after Mr Hamilton found Regal Roofing on website checkatrade.com, and wanted some work done to his roof.
Mr Hamilton, from Blackburn, was quoted £6,500 for the work, but as it continued, Young increased the job to £8,000, saying extra materials were needed.
Young then provided Mr Hamilton with paperwork which stated the business address was 19 Aqueduct Road, Blackburn – an address that does not exist.
Mr Troup said: “Shortly after the work was completed the roof began to leak into the living room.
“Tyrone Young promised to come back to carry out repairs, but didn’t return and then stopped replying to Mr Hamilton’s calls and messages.
“It cost Mr Hamilton more than £3,000 to put the damage right.”
The next customer to fall foul of Young’s substandard work was Anthony Flynn, who lives in Bacup.
In January 2021 Mr Flynn was cold called by Regal Roofing who offered to complete work for him for £800.
Mr Flynn didn’t proceed in January but in June, called the company asking them to come and start the work.
He was quoted £5,500 after an inspection and asked if he could have some paperwork before any repairs commenced.
Mr Troup went on: “He was told he would get the paperwork once the job started, but consumer protection law requires the paperwork to be provided before work starts, to allow for a 14-day cooling off period.
“The failure to give this paperwork meant Young had failed to provide Mr Flynn with details about his right to cancel the contract.”
Mr Flynn was also provided with false details about the address of the business, similar to that provided to Mr Hamilton.
Two weeks after the work was finished it became apparent it hadn’t been done to standard and Mr Flynn was forced to pay an extra £6,500 to put it right.
Mr Troup said: “Lancashire County Council’s Trading Standards team said the mortar work was ‘appalling’ and the tiling work to the roof was ‘amateurish’.”
The next complainant was Jean Hargreaves, also of Bacup, who paid Young £11,200 in June 2021 for work to her bungalow, but like the previous two victims, wasn’t provided with paperwork before work commenced and was given an incorrect business address.
Just two days after work was complete, she noticed several errors and sent Young a snagging list.
He told her he would return, but again he did not, and Mrs Hargreaves had to pay out another £10,000 for the work to be rectified.
Around the same time, David Smith paid Young £4,700 in cash for repairs to his roof, but soon after the work was done, it began leaking and he was quoted an extra £4,200 for a complete re-roof by another contractor.
Young’s final victim was Pauline Jepson who like Mr Smith, Mrs Hargreaves and Mr Flynn, lived in the same area in Bacup.
Mr Troup said: “Young told Ms Jepson her roof was rotten and needed completely redoing and quoted her £9,500.
“She requested paperwork but he said he would post it through her letterbox the following day, which he didn’t do.
"When she finally got the paperwork, after the work had started, again it had the false address on it.”
The court heard how Ms Jepson’s roof tiles were removed, but before they could be replaced, Young and his team left, leaving behind some of their tools, and never returned.
It cost Ms Jepson an extra £8,500 to put right.
Mr Troup said all of the victims has suffered immensely as a result of Young’s actions, with some of them having to take out loans for the additional work.
In mitigation, Joseph Allman said his client had never intended to “rip-off” his customers and didn’t carry out the work “dishonestly” as he had been completing work on other homes in the Bacup area, which had been done to a suitable standard.
Mr Allman said it was of “enormous embarrassment” to Young, as being from the travelling community, his actions had “gone some way to reinforcing the stereotypes of travellers” in that they cannot be trusted to carry out honest work.
Young was handed eight months in prison suspended for 18 months and ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity days.
He was also told to repay £11,500 in compensation to his victims and £500 towards court costs at £1,000 per month.
Director of public health at Lancashire County Council, Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, said: "Our Trading Standards team have put in a lot of hard work to investigate this case and we're pleased that justice has been done. The behaviour of rogue traders is distressing and upsetting for victims, some of whom lose vast amounts of money for work that is substandard or incomplete.
"If you're looking for a trader to carry out work on your home, always do your research. Use recommended firms, such as those listed on our Lancashire Safe Trader website.
"If you have been the victim of a scam or rogue trader, please report it via the Citizen's Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133.
"This ensures that you get the advice you need and that the Trading Standards Service receives your valuable information, helping us to reduce the harm caused by rogue traders."
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