A ROGUE trader from Kidderminster conned a vulnerable pensioner into emptying his bank account of £11,000 for unnecessary work on his home in order to fuel his drug addiction.

David Hodgkins, of Elmley Close, also persuaded the 79-year-old man to lend him £5,000 after claiming he needed the cash to repair his boiler and van, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

The court heard the victim initially agreed to pay Hodgkins £500 to clean his roof, but once in the property, the defendant convinced him several costly repairs were needed.

In the end, 39-year-old Hodgkins left his victim with a damaged roof and failed to fix his leaking conservatory.

Mark Jackson, prosecuting, said Hodgkins took the pensioner to his building society to withdraw money on around 20 occasions between August and October 2018.

The withdrawals emptied the victim’s current account and he had to transfer £9,000 from a savings account to cover the payments.

Staff at the building society became so concerned about the withdrawals that they put a warning marker on his account.

They also informed police, who spoke to the defendant, but Hodgkins assured them the money was for the building work he was carrying out at the man's Stourbridge home.

Officers referred the matter to Dudley Council's Trading Standards department and their investigation led to the arrest of Hodgkins.

A chartered building surveyor instructed by the council to look at the work undertaken told the court it was “inappropriate”, “poorly undertaken” and had “no value whatsoever”.

In fact, Hodgkins had no qualifications to carry out roofing work and little to no experience, the court heard.

"He was a class A drug user at the time and he also abused alcohol," said Mr Christopher O'Gorman, for Hodgkins. "He was resorting to just about anything short of violence to fund his habits."

The court heard he had 14 previous convictions.

Hodgkins admitted three counts of fraud and was told immediate custody was the only appropriate sentence.

He was jailed for 21 months and a Proceeds of Crime hearing will take place at a later date.

Speaking after the sentencing, Dudley councillor Nicolas Barlow, cabinet member for health and adult social care, said: "This prosecution sends out a clear message we will protect consumers from the activity of rogue traders who flout the law and carry out unnecessary and sub-standard work.

"This caused a huge amount of distress to an elderly and vulnerable victim who handed over thousands of pounds he had worked hard to save to a man he trusted, and who badly let him down."