Rogue trader fined more than £7,000 for fraudulent roof repair work

A rogue trader has been fined more than £7,000 for fraudulently carrying out roofing repairs at a property in Park Hall, Oswestry at ‘an overly inflated price for significantly substandard work’.

At Telford Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 11 October 2023, Stephen Wright from Chester pleaded guilty to three charges. He was ordered to pay £1800 compensation to the owner of the property, plus Shropshire Council’s prosecution costs of £5,331.75, and to undertake 250 hours of unpaid work over a period of 12 months.

The total sum of £7,131.75 is to be paid within 28 days.

The three charges to which Stephen Wright pleaded guilty were:

- Carrying on of a home improvement business for a fraudulent purpose, namely cold calling at the property and obtaining agreement for repairs to be made at an overly inflated price for significantly substandard work.

- Dishonestly failing to disclose to the property owner their right to cancel the contract entered into for the work to a roof and guttering.

- Dishonestly making a false representation to the property owner that he was operating as a business called “S&S ROOFING”, having shown and later provided images of testimonials for ‘S&S Roofing’.

Chris Schofield, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for planning and regulatory services, said:

“Rogue traders targeting homeowners are a blight on our communities, bringing financial detriment and hardship to individuals and adversely impacting their mental health.

"It is extremely pleasing to see that Stephen Wright pleaded guilty to the charges and will be punished for his offences. I very much hope that the sentence that has been handed down by the Court will deter others from undertaking such illegal activities in the future.

“Shropshire Council take incidents of rogue trading extremely seriously and we will investigate and use the full weight of the law to bring to justice traders found defrauding consumers.

“If anyone is considering having work undertaken on their house, they are urged to carry out as much research as possible and to always obtain more than one quote before agreeing to a trader doing any work.  No-one should act as a result of a cold call by any trader.”