TWO rogue traders who left a “trail of damage and misery” as they conned often elderly and vulnerable victims pocketed almost £100,000.

Builders Trevor Bateman and David Merriman were jailed at Oxford Crown Court yesterday after ripping off 10 Oxfordshire residents over two years.

Judge Anthony King said the scale of the pair’s frauds was “approaching £100,000”, as Oxfordshire County Council said it was one of the most complex scams they had investigated.

Bateman was jailed for four years and Merriman for three and a half years, and one of their victims, 70-year-old Jane Thomas from Wallingford, said the sentence was “fantastic”.

But she admitted she was not totally sure they won’t strike again.

Mrs Thomas, who was charged more than £6,000 for an unfinished bathroom, said: “I hope it stops them from doing it to other people in future, but I’m not convinced.

“I cannot tell you what a plausible sort of villain Mr Bateman is. He sounds so pleasant and would really do his best to assure you you are going to be all right. I’m not surprised people were taken in.”

Both men were convicted after a month-long trial in which those victims well enough to give evidence were forced to relive their ordeal in court.

In all, 54-year-old Bateman, of Oakham Close, Swindon, was found guilty of seven counts of unfair trading, nine frauds and six charges of money laundering. Merriman, 49, of Swansdowne Drive, Clifton, Notts, was convicted of six counts of unfair trading, six frauds and six charges of money laundering.

While on bail for these offences in July, Bateman took £87,206 from an elderly woman in Surrey after doing work worth no more than £30,500. He admitted this offence yesterday and asked it to be taken into account in his sentence.

Merriman and Bateman, who had a lock-up in Faringdon, operated as AS Contractors and touted for business by cold calling and distributing leaflets across Oxfordshire between 2008 and 2010.

Trading Standards investigator Martin Woodley said the pair had a common way of operating.

He said: “They were cold calling and would start the job and do a small amount of work, then end up taking tens of thousands of pounds. That was the pattern and once we realised that we knew what to look for.”

Prosecutor Nigel Lickley said: “In many cases the victims were females, often elderly and living alone.

“There’s a feature of the case that many were pressurised to provide money often at short notice and many became confused and that, to anybody, let alone an elderly female living alone, can become very distressing.”

Merriman apologised for the scam through his barrister, Mark Trafford.

The jury heard the pair laundered the money by cashing cheques at the Dolphin pub in Swindon. Landlord Phil King was cleared of all charges of his involvement in the scam.

Judge King said: “The effect of what you two have done is to leave a trail of damage and misery from which many of those affected will not recover.”