Two rogue traders who terrorised Moray customers avoided a jail sentence yesterday and were each ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.
Larry Connors, 19, refused to leave the home of Elgin pensioner Mary Brander until she paid the extortionate sum for work on her garden.
Meanwhile his 25-year-old brother, Jerry Connors, smashed up a couple’s driveway in Cullen after they challenged the quality of his work and refused to pay.
The pair carried out the jobs in April 2015 and worked together under the name Tayside Drives and Patios.
A spokesman for Moray Council, whose trading standards team reported the pair, said: “These two rogues choose their victims by their vulnerability, and caused a lot of anxiety to those they tried to swindle.
“I’m sure the sheriff had reasons for the sentence, but it feels far from a deterrent and less than the victims had expected.”
Fiscal depute Alex Swain told Elgin Sheriff Court in May that Larry Connors targetted 85-year-old Mrs Bander by demanding £4,000 for work in her garden which he initially offered to do for £3,200.
Miss Swain said Mrs Brander’s son-in-law eventually paid £3,200 “out of concern for her safety”.
A subsequent investigation revealed Connors, who lives in Northampton, had greatly overestimated the value of the work and had defrauded his victim, who has since died, out of £2,200.
At about the same time, Jerry Connors approached Eva Bonarek and offered to tarmac her driveway. He began work the following day but her partner, Piotr Kobedza, deemed it unsatisfactory and refused to pay the £1,000 bill.
The court heard the bogus tradesman threatened to burn down the house if he was not paid – before returning with some other workmen and smashing up the concrete work with large hammers.
The council spokesman added: “Moray Council trading standards officers and officers from Police Scotland spent a considerable time and effort bringing this distressing case to court. We hope that at least the publicity it has generated will at least provide a warning to other potential victims.”
The spokesman added that, while the pair attended court yesterday, they parked their van in a designated pool car space in the council car park.
Upon checking the vehicle registration on the DVLA database, it was found to be uninsured.
Police were alerted, but the pair had left in their van to return to England before it could be checked by police. It’s registration is HJ16 UTY.
Sheriff Gary Aitken said any breach of the community payback orders will mean they could be brought back to court and additional penalties would be implemented, adding: “These penalties will inevitably be custodial sentences.”
Defence solicitor Stephen Carty said the brothers both wanted to “apologise unreservedly” for their actions.