Jail for gang who conned Clacton and Colchester pensioners out of £1m

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A gang of five rogue traders who conned elderly men and women in Essex out of more than £1m have been jailed.

The group overcharged at least 42 victims between 2009 and 2013, for shoddy building work in Clacton and Colchester.

Many of the victims lived alone or had dementia, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

Ringleader James Brown Senior was jailed for 10 years, after admitting conspiracy to commit fraud and three other fraud charges.

Detectives and trading standards officers built their case around 42 victims aged 65 to 99 but believe the actual number of victims may be closer to 140.

Some have since died and others trusted the men so much, they still did not believe they had been duped, Essex Police said.

Prosecutor Andrew Shaw said the men - led by Brown Senior - "inveigled" their way into the victims' lives and discouraged them from talking to concerned relatives and neighbours as they pressurised them into handing over life savings.

The defendants and their sentences:

Once they had found suitable targets - often by checking bank statements - the gang went back time and time again, demanding further cash as they "mined" their accounts, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

Among the victims was Andrew Millar, aged 86, who had more than £157,000 stolen.

"I do not consider myself to be someone who is easily hoodwinked but for quite some time I refused to believe I had been the victim of a fraud.

"This gang was very persuasive and spent a long time building up my trust in them so that when they started to take advantage of me, I didn't see it," he said.

Helene Reeve Smith, who suffered from dementia and died last year aged 93, was invoiced for £30,000 of work. She handed over £10,000.

James Brown Senior, whom one victim dubbed "Smarmy Jim", and fellow gang member William Brown, were both caught on CCTV in a local bank with Mrs Reeve Smith as she withdrew money, just days before being sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

After the sentencing, Det Ch Insp Keith Davies from Essex Police, said: "They left many of their victims penniless and they have shown no remorse whatsoever for the suffering and hardship they caused in order to line their own pockets."