A ROGUE trader who preyed on a pensioner has been fined by a court.

John David Sykes, 35, charged Edna Phear, of Eden Close in York, £1,000 to replace her gutters, fascias and soffits. But his work was shoddy, the gutters leaked and Mrs Phears ended up having to pay £2,000 for the work to be corrected by someone else.

Matt Boxall, trading standards manager at City of York Council, told York Magistrates’ Court that Mrs Phear employed Sykes, whose company is called Platinum Plastics, after receiving a leaflet through her letterbox claiming that all work carried out would have a ten-year guarantee.

Sykes, of Darlington, visited 77-year-old Mrs Phears in June last year and said he would complete the work as soon as he could. Mrs Phear was then taken into hospital following a stroke but her daughter paid Sykes £400 and her son-in-law then paid the £600 balance on June 11.

A few days later, the son-in-law phoned the defendant, asking him to clear up the mess he had left at the property, but no-one ever arrived. He then tried unsuccessfully to get in touch with Sykes because the guttering was leaking.

He ended up contacting another workman who carried out the work required which cost a further £2,000.

But on December 6, the son-in-law saw the defendant working in the area again.

He approached him and asked for a contribution to the cost of correcting his work, but Sykes became aggressive, so the council’s trading standards department was brought in.

They found a Darlington address that Sykes gave on his literature was false and that he had not visited a Haxby address he also used for more than a year.

They also discovered that the claim of a ten-year guarantee was utterly false.

Mr Boxall said: “Mr Sykes said he had previously had an insurance-backed guarantee but has provided no evidence to support this and no-one has been able to find any trace of this company.”

Sykes, representing himself, told magistrates he had given up replacing gutters and now just concentrated on tiling and fitting slates. He also said he used just one address – Hurworth Moor, Neasham Road, Darlington.

He was fined £150 for falsely advertising a guarantee and £100 for each of the two charges that he did not advertise an effective address.

He was also ordered to pay £1,000 compensation to Mrs Phear and £300 court costs.