A 'disgraceful' conman who targeted elderly and vulnerable people to pressure them into agreeing to let him do gardening work for a high cost has been jailed. James Mochan, 35 who's been described as 'intimidating' left one victim in a wheelchair terrified as he stood over her and refused to leave her home until she transferred him £300.
The 35-year-old swindler tricked his victims out of thousands of pounds and completed jobs to a low standard or just left them completely unfinished, WalesOnline reports. He would threaten his victims by text if they complained about his work and would tell him he 'knew where they lived'.
The greedy crook even drove one of his victim's to an ATM and snatched the money from her hands. Cardiff Crown Court heard on Friday that he targeted two houses in Caerphilly and his third victim was living in Newport. After his arrest, Mochan either denied his involvement with the work or said he charged much smaller costs than was being claimed.
Prosecutor Thomas Stanyway told the court that Mochan's first victims were an elderly married couple who he pressured into allowing him to lay a patio in their garden and build a retaining wall in April 2021 for £950. He arrived the next day to start the job with old slabs that were covered in moss and it quickly became apparent he had little building knowledge or experience.
The pensioners had given him £300 up front but when he was confronted about the state of his work he accused the couple of moving the bricks. He then threatened to 'put them all over Facebook' and warned them he 'knew where they lived'.
Mochan demanded the further £600 and then didn't turn up to complete the job the next day. The victims contacted him via text messages and Mochan agreed he had 'ripped them off' and said they 'wouldn't be getting their money back'.
In a victim personal statement, the female victim said: "Since our incident with the defendant and having him at our home to do work, we have as pensioners felt vulnerable and will never let a stranger into our property to let anything like this happen again." The woman added that she had been suffering from panic attacks since the incident and was worried that the 'smarmy' man would reappear at their home.
The second victim had allowed Mochan to remove some bushes and tidy up her garden in April 2021. He began work on the garden but said he wanted £500 otherwise he wouldn't complete the work. He drove the victim to a cash point where she withdrew two transactions of £250 and then snatched the money out of her hands.
The third victim was wheelchair-bound and had put up a post on Facebook asking for work to be done in her garden. In May 2021, Mochan appeared at her home and offered to cut down some shrubs but before a price was negotiated, he began hacking down the shrubs with a chainsaw while the victim yelled for him to stop.
Further work was agreed to be done for the price of £1,1000 with the victim initially transferring him £600. When she asked for a business card or flyer, the defendant refused to provide her with one.
He laid gravel without a concrete foundation and the disabled woman gave him another £500. She later confronted him and took a picture of him working while he demanded another £300 but she refused.
He then stood over her and said: "I am not going until you have paid... I will sit here until you do'' leaving the terrified victim no option but to pay him again. When he left she called the police but he reappeared three days later again, demanding more cash.
In a victim personal statement, she said: "I felt there was repeated pressure regarding further work required and I felt pressured to give more money. I paid him £300 because I was frightened... I should never have let him start the work but I was too frightened to tell him to leave."
Mochan, of Bridge Street, Aberdare, was later arrested and pleaded guilty to four counts of engaging in commercial practice which was aggressive, engaging in commercial practice which is a misleading action containing false information, participating in fraudulent business carried on by a sole trader, and two counts of knowingly/recklessly engaging in commercial practice contravening reg 3(3)(a) distorting behaviour of average consumer.
His lawyer, Tim Evans informed the court that Mochan was a father of three and his partner was pregnant. He added that the 35-year-old was a carer for his wheelchair-bound uncle and asked if the defendant could be given a suspended sentence so he could be punished within the community.
Sentencing, Recorder Andrew Hammond said: "These were repugnant offences where you particularly targeting vulnerable and elderly people, bullied them into complying against their wishes and in one case gloated at them after the event. You are a disgrace."
Mochan was handed a two year prison sentence and was also ordered to pay a total of £2,820 compensation fee to his victims.
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