A horrific video has showed builders bragging about 'bodging' a job and mocking an elderly customer. The three workers have been jailed after they took video bragging about ripping off a victim who they say is ''really old''.
Phone footage shows Matty Rossiter, 18, James Rossiter, 25, and Dean Smith, 21, saying ''we find guys like this every day'' by ''door-to-door knocking''. They filmed themselves on the roof demanding "quite a lot of money" for their services from John Bray, 82.
The court heard how the group charged him over £8,000 - and just replaced a few tiles. The trio made £45,000 from crimes committed in 18 properties across Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Bristol between October 2020 and March 2021, reports Bristol Live.
On the phone footage, one of them says: "As you can see we're doing some roofing work here. We're doing some bodging.
"As you see, what we're doing is we are in some bungalows. We've got two vans on the go - and as you can see, the guy we're working for, he's really old."
The individual then calls out to John, from Calne, Wiltshire, saying: "John, we're having quite a lot of money for this, aren't we?"
He adds: "So we want to do you a good job. It's worth doing right, isn't it? It's your home, you need to live in it. So you don't want any more problems on the roof after we're gone, do you?"
The camera then turns to look at the badly repaired roof, before the cameraman adds: "As you can see here, we don't need to pay thousands for advertisement It's on the door-to-door knocking, what I've done for all my life, and we find guys like this every day. The door-to-door knocking. It's the way forward."
The work was later labelled by a chartered surveyor called by Wiltshire Trading Standards as "abysmal". It was "carried out with no attendant skill or competence" and "probably without the use of appropriate hand tools".
The group also used multiple names for their business varying by county, including Southern Homecare, Chippenham Roofing, Skyline Roofing, Wiltshire Roofing and Yate Roofing.
Mr Bray's son, Steve, told the BBC that the group were 'despicable', and that he believed the death of his mother had been in part due to the fraud.
He told the BBC: "They made a video laughing and joking, insulting my dad, laughing and joking while they were doing more damage.
"The feelings my parents had - the shame and embarrassment - my mum took that feeling to her grave. That's the worst part."
Matty and James Rossiter, both of Minety, in Wiltshire, admitted fraud by false representation and participating in a fraudulent business.
Matty Rossiter was jailed for two years and three months for the offence, and aged just 16 was one of the youngest offenders Wiltshire Trading Standards had discovered.
James Rossiter was also jailed for three years and four months, while Dean Smith, of Aldermaston, Berkshire, was sentenced to three years after pleading guilty to participating in a fraudulent business.
Judge Jason Taylor at Swindon Crown Court labelled the trio 'industrial scale' rogue builders, and reprimanded them for their 'arrogance' after laughing at their victim.
He said: "Over several months you mainly targeted elderly people and you viewed them as easy targets due to their vulnerability and felt no guilt about taking advantage of them. Your arrogance is notable. There was significant planning. You knew the bungalows you targeted would be occupied by the elderly."
Read next:
- School placed students into 'lockdown' after report child brought BB gun onto site
- Man dies after being found unresponsive near passport office in Newport
The factory-built flats that could spring up all over Wales to solve the homelessness crisis
Neighbours have had 19 cars written off because drivers keeping crashing into them on
