A ROGUE roofer has been handed a suspended prison sentence for tricking a vulnerable woman into paying for unnecessary work, just months after he was jailed for a similar crime.

Recorder Gordon Bebb QC said Daniel Sherwood, who has two previous convictions for similar offences, showed “predatory behaviour” and “took advantage” of 60-year-old Christine Coales.

He said: “He got his foot in the door and he then started to milk her.”

The 31-year old was sentenced to two 12-month suspended prison sentences, to run concurrently, at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday.

He had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of misleading commercial practice or actions relating to works he carried out at his victim’s Northbourne home in April, 2013.

Mrs Coales, who suffers with ME, fibromyalgia and arthritis, agreed for Sherwood to do £90 of work after an unsolicited knock on the door – but she ended up paying more than £5,680, including £900 additional works to complete the job with another roofer, the court heard.

Prosecuting Duncan Milne said while some of the works carried out had been necessary, Sherwood’s move to replace the whole roof was “entirely unnecessary and unjustified” according to an independent surveyor.

In an impact statement referred to in court, the victim said she had been left “feeling frightened in her own home”, felt “panic at unexpected knocks on the door”, and was “scared about seeing the defendant”.

Michael Little, defending, said his client estimated he had only made £600 profit on the work and “feels deep remorse” after reading the victim impact statement.

He added: “He admits he is a bad businessman and felt under pressure, but he shouldn’t have pressured the victim in this matter in the manner he did and he deeply regrets that.”

Recorder Bebb QC said the offence was so serious that a custodial sentence was justified, but, taking account of the defendant’s guilty plea and the fact that he had already served prison time this year, he suspended it for two years.

Sherwood was also ordered to pay £1,900 compensation to his victim, £1,000 towards costs and a £100 surcharge.

Third appearance in court

It is the third time that Sherwood, of Wakely Road in Bournemouth, was in the courts over offences relating to his work. 

In May this year he was sentenced to nine months in prison for misleading a 73-year-old woman over repairs he made to her roof in September 2012. 

In 2011, he admitted engaging in a misleading commercial practice after informing an 86-year-old Ferndown woman that her roof needed £700 of work done.