Hartlepool rogue workman fleeced elderly Marton resident out of thousands intended for disabled son

Alexander Brewis, from Hartlepool, deliberately targeted the vulnerable victim and overcharged her for work to her roof and bathroom but did “next to nothing”.

Teesside Crown Court heard the money was to be used for the victim’s disabled adult son, who has lived with her for decades, when she can no longer care for him.

Brewis, 42, of Lewis Grove, Hartlepool, has now been jailed for two-and-a-half years after he admitted fraud totalling £13,800.

Two men from Brewis’s roofing firm cold called at the victim’s house in Marton, Middlesbrough, in October 2019 and persuaded her that her guttering needed clearing which she was billed £3,500 for.

In December, Brewis and another man then turned up and convinced her to let them overhaul the roof.

He returned in January 2020 and told the victim her bathroom needed recladding, quoting her £3,000 – which increased to £4,800 – despite only being worth £1,500.

But John Crawford, prosecuting, said when the roof was examined by an expert later, the guttering had not been cleaned, tiles had not been replaced and flashing not reinstated properly.

“The expert considered the price of the work if undertaken competently would have been £1,750,” he said. The roof work done was actually only worth £275.

Investigations by Middlesbrough Council found the address listed on Brewis’s company website in Bradford was fake.

Describing the impact on her, the victim said: “The money Alexander Brewis has taken from me was set aside for my son’s care when I am no longer here or am able to look after him.”

She added the loss had a major impact on her financial security and she now fears everyone is out to scam her.

Mark Styles, mitigating for Brewis, who has 31 previous convictions for dissimilar offences, said: “He want to put his criminality behind him."

Sentencing him to prison, Judge Roger Thomas said the work was “very shoddy” adding: “It was deliberate and substantial fraudulent conduct against this poor vulnerable elderly lady.

"The damage and harm done could hardly be the greater.”