Four men were sentenced today at Leeds Crown Court following two successful prosecutions by North Yorkshire County Council Trading Standards and Planning Services. The first case saw Danny James Toal, 31, and Thomas James Wilson, 33, both from, Scarborough, sentenced to two-and-a-half years and three years respectively. Toal had pleaded guilty to two offences under the Trade Descriptions Act and four under the Fraud Act and Wilson had pleaded guilty to one offence under the Trade Descriptions Act and five under the Fraud Act.

Toal and Wilson, trading as The Roofing Specialists, targeted a vulnerable female from Scarborough in relation to roofing work and also in relation to replacing her bathroom, after cold-calling at her home.

Between them the pair falsely claimed to have replaced lead to her roof, cleaned out her gutters, replaced bricks and slates in her loft and that they needed £4,350 for raw materials for her bathroom. In total, the female victim paid the pair over £6,300 for the alleged repairs. Sadly, she died shortly after the offending. Trading Standards pursued the case, despite her death, determined not to allow such despicable offences to go unpunished.

In a separate case, David Robert Tunney, 33, and Christian Denver Shaw, 32, both from Ammanford, Wales, were each sentenced to nine months imprisonment suspended for two years and to a 12 month supervision order requiring they each undertake 250 hours of community service. Each had pleaded guilty to 15 offences under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968. The pair operated a domain name scam through their company Sky Protection Ltd in Ystradgynlais, Wales.

The business made cold-calls to the owners of guest houses and bed and breakfasts around the country, falsely claiming that a third party was trying to set up internet websites using the business's trading name as domain names. They alleged this would prevent them setting up a website with an appropriate domain name in future.

Tunney and Shaw also operated under the trading name Internet Verification Office, deliberately giving people the false impression that they had some official capacity in relation to domain name regulation. To reinforce this impression, the scam used an accommodation agency address in London, rather than their Welsh location.

They then went on to explain that, if the owner of the guest house / bed and breakfast made a quick decision, they could have first refusal of the domain names. Further false statements were made in relation to the charges for the domain names and the length of time the registrations would last for.

In one example, the owner of a guesthouse near Whitby in North Yorkshire was told a competitor in the same village had attempted to buy domain names relating to her business. Fearing it would affect her business in future she agreed to buy six domain names, for £25 each. After giving her bank details over the phone, Sky Protection then debited £1,500 from her account.

Proceeds of Crime Act asset recovery cases are to follow in relation to all four men.

Clare Wood, Executive Member for North Yorkshire County Council Trading Standards, said "These prosecutions represent examples of our continuing determination to protect the residents of our County from callous rogue traders. We will do all we can to ensure crime does not pay in North Yorkshire. We also repeat our previous advice that consumers should not deal with cold-callers, whether they contact you by telephone or call at your door. "

Consumers wishing to report rogue traders or seek advice should contact Consumer Direct on 08454 040506.

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03-04-09