Record levels of crime on county's doorsteps

Rogue trader teams were inundated with more than 500 scams last year, almost three times the number of reports compared to four years ago.

The Oxford Mail has learnt organised gangs have conned victims out of £816,456 in the 12 months to April this year.

In 2007, there were only 182 reports of scams, compared to 524 in 2010/11.

Meanwhile, the county’s Trading Standards team has expanded to deal with the problem of fraudsters carrying out shoddy work on the homes of pensioners and the disabled.

The team’s lead officer Martin Woodley said many victims were struggling to recover.

He said: “The impact on some of these people is they end up in hospital because they cannot cope anymore.

“Elderly victims become ill with worry. Some are so ill that if it goes to court, they cannot go.”

Now primary schools across Oxfordshire have been the latest targets, with a line-painting scam leaving some headteachers with bills of up to £2,700.

Tree cutting, driveway and roofing scams remain a firm favourite with the fraudsters and the majority of victims are pensioners.

Deputy chief executive of Age UK Oxfordshire Penny Thewlis said rising cases of doorstep crime was worrying.

She said: “Rogue traders pose a persistent threat to older people, and this significant rise in doorstep crime rates is a real cause for concern.

“However, we believe older people can protect themselves from scams if they have the right information and advice.

“Do not be pressured into making any payments, particularly in cash, or signing any documents until you have had a chance to think about it, or discuss it with family or friends.

“Do not let yourself be rushed and do not be afraid to ask a salesperson to leave. If they refuse, call the police.”

Mr Woodley said more victims were now coming forward due to increased awareness of scams.

But through increased intelligence gathering by police, trading standards and banks, arrests were also on the rise.

Trading standards collared a record number of fraudsters in 2010/11, 31 in total, and one high-profile case saw two conmen jailed for a total of seven years.

Mr Woodley said variations on the same scams were used many times.

He said: “They turn up, start cutting from trees from the road, they have yellow jackets on and people think they are from the council.

“Ten minutes later they knock on the door and ask for £2,000 saying it’s the homeowner’s responsibility to keep trees away from power lines and people are intimidated.”

Last summer, Henley Town Council was taken in by a white line-painting con.

Town clerk Mike Kennedy said he was shocked and panicked when he found out he had been scammed, but trading standards helped the council avoid the £2,300 rip-off.

He said: “It can happen to anyone, don’t feel ashamed. Don’t be frightened to pick up the phone and talk to trading standards. We were duped but we caught it quickly.”

Mr Woodley said the team was coping at the moment, and had been expanded from two to four, including an officer seconded from Thames Valley Police.

One innovation in the fight against fraudsters is the use of surveillance cameras.

Mr Woodley said Oxfordshire was one of the first teams to use the technology, which allows officers to review and act on live footage.

Covert police cameras helped convict Alfred Down, of Woodhill Lane Caravan Park, East Challow, who was jailed for three years for fraud last week.

“It is a big boost in terms of investigations and eight arrests have led from it,” said Mr Woodley.

* If you have concerns about any company or work, or want to report suspicious behaviour, contact Oxfordshire Trading Standards on 0845 051 0845.

* Age UK advice helpline on 0844 887 0005, Monday to Friday 10am-4pm, can give advice and help.

* ROGUE traders who conned pensioners out of more than £800,000 were jailed for seven years, following trading standards investigations.

In May 2010, Scott Jackson and Mark Shepherd were jailed after targeting an elderly academic and a dementia sufferer in Oxford in a three-year scam.

In March 2004, they told 85-year-old dementia sufferer Mary Turpin that one of her chimneys was tilting and some roof tiles needed replacing at her North Oxford home.

Jackson, of Willow Street, Leicester, and Shepherd, of The Beeches Caravan Site, Chipping Norton, repeatedly told the former Oxford High School teacher that the house required maintenance work.

Over 15 months she paid them a total of £364,906 for work which should have cost just £30,000.

The following year, the conmen targeted 81-year-old retired Oxford University academic Dr Francis Marriott, who lived in Botley.

Dr Marriott paid out £506,880 for building work, which was later assessed as being worth no more than £55,000.

Shepherd was jailed for four-and-a-half years after admitting fraud, obtaining property by deception, two charges of obtaining money transfer by deception, and attempting to obtain property by deception.

Jackson received a two-and-a-half year sentence after admitting two counts of obtaining money transfer by deception and a charge of attempting to obtain property by deception.

Meanwhile, a conman who committed a series of “despicable” frauds against a 90-year-old widow was jailed for three years last week.

Alfred Down targeted Daisy Cassie and extracted more than £45,000 from her over a six-month period.

Mrs Cassie, who remembered being offered a “great deal on gravel”, died a few weeks after the crimes were uncovered.

Down, of Woodhill Lane Caravan Park, East Challow, was jailed after admitting 18 counts of fraud and one of money laundering, totalling £45,370.

The crimes took place between September 2008 and March 2009.

Sentencing him at Oxford Crown Court last week, Recorder Julian Knowles said: “This was despicable behaviour. Those who target elderly and vulnerable victims really have to look at themselves and ask what sort of person they are.”