A conman posed as a plumber, a roofer and a Dyson engineer to trick innocent people out of their hard-earned cash to fund his gambling addiction.
James Lawson, 30, preyed on vulnerable elderly women, single mums, a cancer sufferer, a disabled amputee and an army veteran with PTSD over a period of three years, conning them out of more than £166,400.
He appeared at Liverpool Crown Court today, January 27, where he pleaded guilty to 20 counts of fraud.
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The string of offences began in Newcastle in June 2019, when three women aged 72, 81, and 70 were called on a withheld number by a man who claimed to be a Dyson engineer, informing them their vacuum cleaner was in need of servicing.
His first victim paid in cash, however, the 81-year-old and 70-year-old both used credit cards to pay for the service. When they later checked their bank accounts, the 81-year-old woman found £2,000 had been taken out of her account, while the 70-year-old was missing £4,000.
Lawson then moved to Merseyside, where he continued his pattern of offending - this time posing as a roofer and plumber for a number of made-up businesses, including Lawson's Contractors, Aquashield, Swift Plumbing Solutions, and EMP Contracting.
From February 2021 to May 2022, he took up roofing and plumbing jobs in Bradford, Liverpool, Huddersfield, Oldham, Barnsley, Wirral, Chesterfield, Manchester, Bolton, Macclesfield and Wrexham, using marketplace website Bark to track down potential victims. He, along with other men, carried out "appalling" work, which was in each case abandoned after payment was given.
One woman from Chesterfield handed over £8,832 in total after the conman told her "her fuse box was so dangerous that the council would throw her out of her house if they knew about it". He also threatened to report another woman to police after she became suspicious and refused to pay.
Other victims included a cancer sufferer, an elderly woman who wanted a walk-in bath, and a 25-year military veteran with complex PTSD.
One woman said: "I felt intimidated when they were in my home. They took all my savings."
Another woman, aged 67, said: "I trust no one now. I was left feeling totally vulnerable and suspicious. My confidence in selecting tradesmen has gone and I feel very vulnerable as a female living alone."
Miss Specter, defending, said: "Lawson found himself in debt and he decided he would make that money by going into people's homes and defrauding them. He holds his hands up to that.
"Lawson is, or was, the sole provider for his partner who is five months pregnant. He's likely to miss the birth of his child and a significant early portion of his childhood."
She said the the 30-year-old suffered from a gambling addiction which had spiralled out of control in early 2021, which led to him getting into debt with "the wrong people", and that he had been "threatened with violence". She also said he had not deliberately targeted vulnerable people, as he had responded to online requests indiscriminately.
She added: "Lawson is a man who is remorseful for what he has done."
Lawson, of HMP Altcourse, who has 13 previous convictions for 47 offences, including fraud, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.
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