A man who preyed on elderly and vulnerable North Wales residents to fraudulently gain more than £500,000 has been jailed.

Joseph Oliver, 33, of Westgate Road, Lytham St Annes, was sentenced to four years and nine months’ imprisonment at Mold Crown Court today (July 29).

He had previously admitted two charges of knowingly being party to a business carrying on for fraudulent purposes.

Prosecuting, Lee Reynolds told the court that Oliver was director of LJ Property Solutions Ltd and Windowseal Ltd when he “dishonestly and persistently” defrauded customers between 2017 and 2023.

Oliver, described as a “professional conman”, was said to have “deliberately targeted” elderly and vulnerable residents, some of whom lost six-figure sums as a result of his offending.

His companies purported to sell warranties for windows, doors or conservatories, but would convince his victims to pay for additional work which was not needed or undertaken.

He had been involved in a previous company which was alleged to have also targeted and over-charged elderly and vulnerable people, about which he had been personally spoken to.

But, Mr Reynolds said, “his response to that appears to have been establishing LJ Property Solutions Ltd to carry on the practices of the previous company.

“When that outlived its usefulness, he established Windowseal Ltd, doing the exact same thing.”

Investigations by trading standards departments on Anglesey and in Lancashire revealed a total of 39 victims, some of whom have since died.

The average age of these victims was 82 in North Wales and 79 in Lancashire, and in total, they incurred a combined loss of £544,300.42.

Customers were “staggeringly quoted” by Oliver and would be “held to ransom” by him and treated as “cash cows”, Mr Reynolds said.

Victims were left scared into believing their homes were in danger of suffering a significant water ingress or perhaps representing a fire risk.

Work carried out by Oliver’s company was described as “appalling” and “substandard”.

An 84-year-old victim said that, at the time of Oliver’s first call, he was at a “particularly low point” having just lost his wife.

Another, who lost, £132.413, had his properties involved examined by a chartered surveyor, who found little evidence of skill or competence demonstrated, and who said the work carried out should have cost no more than £22,600.

A third victim said Oliver was aware of her husband’s ongoing health issues, but that he had “no interest in our plight” and ignored text messages from them.

Oliver also received £120,000 from another victim, who said he appeared “personable” but left their house in an “appalling condition”.

The son of another victim said that Oliver’s actions left her “not eating” and “scared to open the door”, with no work having been carried out despite her paying £3,000.

Oliver, who had three previous convictions for dishonesty in the name of Joseph Miller in 2010 and 2011, was said to have “latched on to the slightest weakness”.

Defending him, Alex Bennie said there were numerous victims with whom Oliver was “not personally involved”.

He stressed that Oliver, a father, did not use violence or intimidation, and now displays “genuine remorse”, having written a letter of apology to the court.

In this letter, Oliver described his crimes as “hideous” and “disgusting”, and said they made him “feel sick.”

Sentencing, Judge Timothy Petts also disqualified Oliver from being director of a company for 10 years.

Judge Petts told Oliver: “Behind every pound of those losses is a story of personal and family misery.

“You have blighted the later lives of many elderly men and women.”

Lancashire County Council and Isle of Anglesey County Council were also commended by Judge Petts for their efforts in bringing Oliver to justice.

Judge Petts also expressed his best wishes to Oliver’s victims.

Anglesey’s Public Protection portfolio holder, Cllr Nicola Roberts, said: “We welcome the conviction. Exploiting vulnerable individuals is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

“We commend the bravery of the victims who assisted trading standards officers to bring this man to justice.

“If any resident has experienced problems of this nature or has concerns about the trading practices of a particular trader, they are encouraged to contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133 - if not for their own benefit, to help us to protect other vulnerable members of the community.”

Lord Michael Bichard, chair of National Trading Standards, added: “Victims in this case were repeatedly bombarded with phone calls until Mr Oliver got what he wanted to line his pockets, leaving them financially and emotionally drained after their ordeal.

“Using aggressive and manipulative tactics to pressurise victims into parting with large sums of money for building and maintenance work they didn't need, the defendant showed a complete disregard for the wellbeing of his victims and was clearly out to enrich himself, whatever the cost.”