A rogue trader who attempted to con money from a helpless pensioner was found out thanks to the victim’s Ring doorbell camera.
Tommy Taylor, 31, targeted the 74-year-old resident by demanding money for roofing work that had never been carried out.
The victim’s son had installed a video doorbell on his father’s home in Fernhill Heath, near Worcester, after concerns he was being targeted by fraudsters.
Mr Taylor was then filmed continually banging on the pensioner’s front door and living room window on November 12, 2022, and was heard soliciting payment for the non-existent work, saying that he was from the thingy and that he hadn’t been paid, and that the elderly man had probably given it to someone else.
The conman was jailed for 26 weeks after doorbell footage was shared with the police and will pay a £150 victim surcharge.
The video shows the victim opening the door and Taylor was heard demanding payment for the non-existent work.
The victim tells him that he’s paid him.
Taylor responds, and that he hasn’t and that he’s the manager from the thingy, and that he’s not been paid.
He then says that the man probably gave the money to someone else and that he was the manager and then points to the logo on his fleece.
The pensioner then says he’s going to call the police and Taylor flees, telling the man that he will send the thingy then – it’s not clear what the thingy refers to.
The pensioner’s son then sent the video to West Mercia Police who arrested Taylor at his home in Sandy Lane, Stourport, Worcestershire.
Taylor denied being involved and claimed he’d been sent to the address by other people who’d completed the work.
Taylor was found culpable of deception by making fraudulent representations, behaving dishonestly, and intending to make a gain for himself or another.
He was jailed for 26 weeks and summoned to pay a £150 victim surcharge following the trial at Worcester Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
Police are now urging people to install similar systems to safeguard their own homes and those of their families, especially if they’re elderly.
Detective Constable Simon Lloyd said that he was pleased to see this verdict and hope this offers some closure and reassurance to the victim and his family.
He said that the criminal targeting of vulnerable persons in West Mercia would not be tolerated and they would investigate every avenue to bring those defenders to justice.
This should have come with a much longer prison time, and the pensioner should have been paid handsome compensation by this criminal who won’t be in jail long enough to dirty the sheets. This man is absolute pondlife, and hopefully, when this man is an OAP, someone will try to con him out of his life savings.
And what kind of deterrent is this sentence?
It’s also equally foolish to be caught on camera and then denying involvement, and wow, 26 weeks jail time, I bet that’s taught him, what a great justice system we have!
Perhaps the Government should reintroduce National Service. It would give the youths of today discipline and some sort of qualification at the end of it.
At least Taylor had the decency to stand in front of the doorbell camera, making sure all the evidence was captured – the only thing missing was a proper sentence, but let’s face it, he really wasn’t the sharpest knife in the toolbox, was he?
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 