Heartless Tilbury conmen caged after superb work by detectives

A GANG who conned two elderly people out of more than £150,000 have been sentenced.

The six men, four of whom are from Tilbury, posed as landscape gardeners and tricked their housebound victims from Leigh on Sea into paying for work they had not completed or was of poor standard.

Over a period of five years the gang, who traded as Chris Landscaping Limited, charged a now 90-year-old woman £44,000 for minor work including £15,000 for a short garden path and collected a total of 67 cheques totalling more than £113,000 from a 74-year-old disabled man.

The gang leader, 35-year-old Christopher Barnes of Jay Gardens in Chislehurst, Kent, befriended his victims over a number of months, taking his two young children to visit them and encouraging them to introduce him to their families.

He then turned up unannounced on a number of occasions and demanded money for work he had not been asked to carry out.

An investigation was launched when a neighbour of one of the victims contacted police with concerns about how much money had been paid to the landscapers.

Barnes and his five associates were arrested between June 2010 and March 2011 and later admitted various charges of fraud, deception and money laundering.

At Basildon Crown Court on Wednesday, 28 March, Barnes was jailed for five years and nine months.

William Brazil, 48, of Sullivan Road, Tilbury, was jailed for nine months, Daniel Chuter, 48, of Feenan Highway, Tilbury, was sentenced to four years imprisonment, Christopher Chuter, 56, of Jay Gardens, Chislehurst, Kent, received a six week prison sentence suspended for two years.

Allen Logan, 51, of Thackeray Avenue, Tilbury was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment and Danny Palmer, 31, of Stephenson Avenue, Tilbury, was jailed for four months suspended for two years.

Police were able to track down the gang by tracing the cheques that had been paid into their bank accounts.

They disputed any crimes had been committed, claiming they had carried out more work than police had been told, but detectives were able to prove differently with the help of structural surveyors.

Police found that despite posing as owner of the company, Christopher Barnes had cashed very few of the cheques. Instead he got his associates to cash them and even paid some into his children’s accounts in attempt to disguise his involvement.

Investigating officer DC Mike Buckingham said: “This gang purposely targeted vulnerable elderly people who had been housebound for six years or longer. Barnes cleverly befriended his victims by purposely taking his young children to visit them because he knew they would be delighted to have the company. He was not above using his children to take money illegally and then to try and hide it from police.

“While his elderly victims lived frugal lives, Barnes showed all the signs of a luxurious lifestyle. He lived in a nicely decorated house with stables at the bottom of the garden, had a fleet of four cars and went on lots of holidays to Florida.

“Barnes and his associates appeared to be part of a professional company, arriving in a sign written van and issuing professional looking business cards and invoices. They were in fact nothing of the sort and left two vulnerable elderly people almost penniless.

“While his elderly victims lived frugal lives, Barnes showed all the signs of a luxurious lifestyle. He lived in a nicely decorated house with stables at the bottom of the garden, had a fleet of four cars and went on lots of holidays to Florida.

“Bringing these men to justice has been the result of a detailed two-year investigation. I hope this case will remind members of the public to think carefully before agreeing for work to be carried out on their home or garden. Always get a couple of quotes to make sure the price you are being quoted is fair and don’t be fooled by professional looking invoices and business cards.

“Finally if you think you’ve been the victim of scam, please report it us. We need to stop tricksters working in our county.”