A ROGUE builder who fleeced elderly couples out of thousands of pounds could be banned from the business altogether in a ground-breaking move by consumer watchdogs.

Trading standards bosses in York are seeking a court order against Joseph Horner which would make it a criminal offence for him to work as a builder anywhere in England and Wales for the next five years.

In what is thought to be the first case of its kind in the country, they will ask a court to impose a criminal antisocial behaviour order (CRASBO) on Horner, who has pleaded guilty to duping two elderly York couples into paying thousands of pounds for work which was never finished.

District judge Martin Walker called it a "mean, nasty crime".

But Horner said he was not a conman, and felt he had got "rough justice".

JOSEPH Horner has swindled elderly people out of thousands of pounds.

But the rogue builder could soon be banned from working in the trade - if a pioneering move by York consumer watchdogs is successful.

Horner, 36, of Farndale, near Kirkbymoorside, has pleaded guilty to five charges under the Trade Descriptions Act of making a false statement about services he carried out.

York Magistrates' Court heard that he duped two elderly couples in the city into paying out thousands of pounds for work he never finished.

Today the Evening Press can reveal that trading standards officers in York have applied for a landmark criminal antisocial behaviour order (CRASBO) to stop him working as a builder.

The CRASBO - believed to be the first of its kind in the country - will stop Horner working in any property servicing business for five years anywhere in England and Wales.

Matthew Boxall, principal trading standards officer, said: "We are asking the court to prevent him from carrying on this work anymore, as history suggests he uses this as a front to take advantage of people."

He said: "In this case Mr Horner has committed serious offences, causing the victims a great deal of distress, particularly after they complained about his work.

"We have to remember that these crimes were committed at the homes of people who had to trust him - these people were particularly vulnerable to him.

"Under the order, Horner would be perfectly able to earn a living in other areas, providing he changes his ways."

At the magistrates' court, Neil Cameron, prosecuting for trading standards, described how Horner cold-called Herbert Newton, then 80 and suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, in April 2003.

He charged Mr Newton and his wife, Betty, £1,680 for work he never completed at the couple's Huntington home.

Horner also charged 75-year-old Andrew Jones, of Upper Poppleton, £2,250 for incomplete work to his roof and patio in May 2003.

District judge Martin Walker told Horner: "It is a mean, nasty crime. It is deceitful and in fact you are perhaps lucky that you are not charged with a more serious offence."

Afterwards Mrs Newton said: "My husband had no idea of the amount of money involved - it might as well have been coppers. At our age you do not spend that amount of money without planning for it.

"If I had been up and about I would not have touched him with a bargepole, because he was obviously dodgy."

Horner will be sentenced by York Crown Court in November.

He has a string of convictions relating to his property repair business.

The court heard that Horner was jailed in 1995 for 42 months for obtaining property by deception. He was also jailed for six months in 1994.

In May, magistrates in Pickering sentenced him for offences under the Business Names Act and for not giving customers a cooling-off period after he had cold-called them.

But Horner told the Evening Press yesterday that he had been hard done by.

"I have a feeling they are stitching me up for no reason because I come from a Romany family," he said.

"They are trying to put me down like I am a conman, which is far from the case. I thought on that day in court I got rough justice."

Updated: 08:16 Monday, October 31, 2005