A roofer has been sentenced for gambling away thousands of pounds of deposits from people – some who were seriously ill – then failing to do any work.
Lincolnshire County Council said Leon David Mann of Pilgrims Way, Gainsborough, and his company Gainsborough Roofing, took 50 per cent deposits of between £500 and £2,750 from customers.
Rather than using the money to buy materials and secure start dates, the council’s Trading Standard’s division said he used it on online gambling sites.
The council said gave he customers excuses including “personal illness, family illness, adverse weather, vehicle problems and Covid”.
Some victims, it said, said they found Mann “charming when they first met him, but he became aggressive and intimidating" when they had to start chasing him.
In one case, the council said Mann took more than £2,000 from a family to repair a leaking roof. One of the occupants of the property was going through cancer treatment.
Despite agreeing new start dates the council said he never carried out the work. And after he agreed to refund the deposit but didn’t, the family was forced to pay someone else to do it.
Another victim was going through radiotherapy when they paid a 50 per cent deposit of £2,750 deposit for repairs to their roof.
The council said Mann arranged a number of start dates before eventually promising to refund the couple, but never did.
Following a nine-month investigation by Lincolnshire Trading Standards, Mann plead guilty to 12 fraud offences and was handed a 16-month suspended sentence at Lincoln Crown Court.
He was also ordered to pay compensation totalling £9,410, and a further £2,500 to the prosecution.
Tara Carter, senior trading standards officer at Lincolnshire Trading Standards, said: “At the time of the offences, starting from December 2019 up to May 2021, Mr Leon Mann was trading as Gainsborough Roofing.
“And, since December 2020, he was aware he was being investigated but still continued taking victims' money with either no intention of doing any work, or doing work to shoddy standards.
"I’m pleased that the judge has recognised the severity of Mr Mann’s crimes and the impact he’s had on his victims, and most of them will be getting their money back.”
