Two men jailed for conning vulnerable woman out of thousands of pounds

Two men from Surrey who scammed a vulnerable woman out of thousands of pounds in Slough have been jailed.

Wally Smith, 23, of Park Lane East, Reigate, and 24-year-old George Jones, of Rutland Close, Epsom, were sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Wednesday, April 27.

The pair pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation under the Fraud Act 2006.

Smith was jailed for a total of 39 months and Jones was given an 11 month sentence.

On September 10, the pair attended the victim’s address in Farnham Lane, Slough, telling her that she needed work doing to her guttering and tree.

The victim agreed to a fee for the work to be completed.

After cutting down a branch of a tree and loading it onto their white van, the pair drove the victim to two separate cash points to withdraw the agreed sum of cash.

The following day Smith and Jones returned to the same address stating that they needed to do some work in the back garden which included cutting some trees, clearing out rubbish and fixing the gutter.  

They requested a further payment and again drove the victim to a cash point where money was withdrawn and handed over.

When arriving back at the address, the pair continued to do some work before requesting a further payment for insurance purposes. Another trip to two cash points followed, with the victim handing over more money.

Twelve days later, on September 23, police stopped a white van in Gerrards Cross. During a search of the vehicle, officers found marketing leaflets matching one that had been left with the victim.

The following month police attended a road in Iver Heath to reports of suspicious men going door-to-door. The same leaflets were found along with other paperwork in a van. Jones and Smith were subsequently arrested and later charged.

PC Johanna Frater said: “They intentionally defrauded a vulnerable victim of her savings which is despicable.  

“Sadly the victim trusted the men to carry out the work but in reality they did very little. Instead, they conned her out of thousands of pounds.”