£36,000 for cutting trees, £120,000 for useless roofing – Dorset Trading Standards secures convictions in two major fraud cases targeting vulnerable residents
An elderly Dorset resident was charged £36,000 for gardening work that should have cost £3,500. Now four people have been convicted at Bournemouth Crown Court in one of the county’s most shocking recent fraud cases.
In 2022, a man approached the victim and his wife, claiming he had been recommended to speak to them by two neighbours, whose hedges he had cut. The victim agreed to the hedge trimming, but the man, Dan, did not provide written cancellation rights, a legal requirement for “doorstep contracts.”
Two men carried out minimal work, and then demanded £1,600 in cash. Over the following days, they returned repeatedly, using misleading and aggressive tactics, claiming trees were dangerous or diseased and recommending work, much of which turned out to be unnecessary. They felled three conifers, a holly and a sycamore tree, reduced the height of another sycamore from 60ft to 15ft, and a conifer from 60ft to 30ft, coppiced two hazels and vigorously pruned a fruit tree. The victim, concerned about their liability and safety issues with the (apparently) diseased trees, eventually paid out a total of £36,000.
More crooks caught
Trading Standards investigated the case and traced the cheque payments through multiple bank accounts – they identified Scott Cochrane (aged 35, from Poole) and Daniel Coker (aged 39, from Salisbury) as the principal offenders. Both men were later identified by the victim in an identity parade.
Aaron Frigot (aged 27, from Poole) banked a cheque for £25,000 from the victim. He passed the majority of the money to Coker and Cochrane via Penny Jayne Barney (aged 57, from Verwood). At the Bournemouth hearing, His Honour Judge Fuller KC said Barney “had laundered the money for financial gain and turned a blind eye to its source.”
Daniel Coker, an experienced offender who was on bail for other matters at the time, was sentenced to six years and seven months imprisonment. Scott Cochrane, who was also on bail at the time of the offences, was sentenced to three years and seven months. Penny Jayne Barney had her 12-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months, was sentenced to a 7pm to 7am curfew for five months and ordered to pay £200 in compensation. Aaron Frigot, who had pleaded guilty earlier at Poole Magistrates Court, had a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and was ordered to spend up to 20 hours in rehabilitation and to pay £1,500 compensation .
The victim statement read to the court said: ’Two years since the offence, I am still haunted by it. These men left my garden in a terrible mess. I am still concerned about the state of it today. Every morning when I wake up, I think about what happened and hope that nothing similar ever happens to me or anyone like me again. I am fearful of being targeted again.’
This was not the only recent successful prosecution by Dorset Council’s Trading Standards service. They secured convictions against a couple trading as Your Roof Buddy Ltd. Christopher Call (aged 36) of Horsham and Georgia Smith (aged 33) of Cranleigh admitted carrying out grossly inflated and incompetent roofing work, targeting vulnerable individuals aged between 65 and 93, who responded to leaflet drops. Smith also falsely claimed to be a member of Checkatrade, despite having been removed from the scheme and instructed to stop using its name and logo on her company website.
Call would initially suggest minor repairs, which quickly escalated to claims that entire roofs needed replacement. Customers who questioned the work, or refused to pay, were threatened by Smith with legal action.
The total quoted for roofing work across four victims amounted to almost £120,000. An expert building surveyor later assessed the properties and concluded that the work was “incompetent, unnecessary and of no value.” All the work needed to be redone.
Cllr Gill Taylor, Dorset Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Housing, said: ‘This case is a stark reminder of the devastating impact rogue traders can have on vulnerable members of our community. I commend our Trading Standards team for their tireless work in bringing these individuals to justice. This is the second conviction this month and work is ongoing on a number of other cases.’
Neil Martin, principal officer in Public Health and Prevention at Dorset Council said: ‘Sadly this type of crime occurs regularly in Dorset. Mostly it involves gardening, roofing, driveways and loft insulation (the installation and/or the removal of foam-sprayed insulation). We feel a great deal of sympathy for the victims of these types of crimes. The criminals who carry out this type of work can be very convincing, and will often offer small, simple jobs such as trimming a hedge or replacing a roof tile. Once they have gained the householder’s trust, the price and need for additional work quickly increases. Unfortunately, they often prey on the more vulnerable consumers, who perhaps don’t know the true value of the work carried out, or are too afraid to say no.’
How easy is it to fall foul of a dodgy gardener or tradesman? Surprisingly so – and I speak from experience. I thought I could spot a scam. But two years ago, after struggling for months to find someone to fix my shed roof, I hired a man who simply made it worse – and then became aggressive when we questioned the bill. Eventually, we paid, just to end the calls.
A few days later, I saw a Facebook post about fly tipping in a nearby farm gateway … and there was a photo of my old shed guttering, dumped with the rubbish. I hadn’t just been scammed – I’d unknowingly contributed to illegal fly tipping, and the council made it clear I was still liable.
Lesson learned.
How not to get ripped off
With con artists continuing to prey on the vulnerable (and not-so-vulnerable) who do need gardening work done, how can the public find someone who will provide a good quality job? Neil Martin has some advice: ‘Never respond to someone knocking on your door to offer work, and be very cautious responding to a leaflet put through your door. Many reputable firms advertise in this way, but unfortunately we are finding that more rogue traders are also using this method to gain work. If you need work carried out on your home, try to use a local business recommended by family or friends, and get several quotes. If you cannot find a business, Trading Standards operates a trusted trader scheme called Buy With Confidence. All members of this scheme have been vetted by trading standards so you can be sure they are honest and trustworthy. A full list of Buy With Confidence members can be found at buywithconfidence.gov.uk or by calling 01392 383430.’
Charlie Saunders of Hambledons, a specialist gardening service based in Shillingstone, adds: ‘Always get three quotes – and don’t only judge on price. Consider the overall professionalism of the company too – does the quote include all the necessary detail? Ask what’s included, check if they’re insured, and look for memberships in schemes like Buy With Confidence, or any other scheme where traders are vetted – it gives you a route to complain through if things go wrong.
‘If they’re a limited company, you can easily check their financial health on Companies House.
‘Remember, the cheapest quote is not always the most cost-effective: A 10-year fencing guarantee may cost more upfront – but it’s far better value.’
In a positive end to the awful gardening fraud case, a local business, Knighton Countryside Management, heard about the victim and offered to clear up the mess left behind by the crooks – entirely free of charge.
