MEMBERS of an eight-man gang that persuaded elderly people to hand over thousands of pounds each for shoddy or unnecessary roof repairs have jailed for 18 years in total.

Their victims included an 89-year-old the gang drove three times to his bank as they made him hand over £17,000, a 73-year-old man who was cheated out of £10,700 in the last year of his life and a 91-year-old man whose neighbours managed to prevent him being defrauded,.

The gang operated from York to Newcastle and into East Yorkshire.

Sentencing them at Teesside Crown Court, Judge Sean Morris said: “This was a well-planned, well-organised fraud that set out to fleece elderly people of their savings.

"It is quite clear there was deliberate targeting of them because they were very vulnerable, frail, fearful, forgetful, and over-trusting."

North Yorkshire trading standards which brought them to justice as part of Operation Gauntlet said afterwards it was their most complex investigation of its kind ever.

The eight were:

Shaun Doyle, 33, of Claremont Road, Darlington, jailed for three years years five months after he finishes a four and a half year sentence for other offences; George Henry Queen Flannigan, 25, of Stirling Road, Milnathort, Scotland, jailed for three years, 11 months. Both were also made subject to criminal behaviour orders banning them indefinitely from cold calling or contacting the elderly.

Andrew Hardy, 32, of no fixed address, jailed for three years and three months, William Stewart, 23, of Holmelea Travellers' Site, Elvington, and Mark Genery, 39, of Tithe Barn Road, Stockton, both jailed for two years and nine months and Graham Thom, 27, of Forglen Crescent, Turriff, Scotland, jailed for one year and 11 months.

James Masterton, 35, and his father Paul Masterton, 67, both of Walnut Place, Newcastle, each ordered to do 250 hours' unpaid work, given a six-month nightly curfew and each ordered to pay the 89-year-old man £1,000 compensation.

Doyle, Flannigan, Stewart, Genery and Thom all admitted conspiracy to defraud. Hardy pleaded guilty to six charges of money laundering and James Masterton to one. Paul Masterton admitted forgery of documents to deceive the investigators.

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