by Tom Stirling

Malton@ycp.co.uk

ELDERLY victim Geoffrey Cawthra today welcomed the tough sentence imposed on a conman who cheated him out of thousands of pounds.

Mr Cawthra, 81, of Snainton, in Ryedale, who was speaking out to warn others about the dangers of rogue builders, said Joseph Horner had knocked on his door one day last April.

He said: "His first words to me were: 'I noticed that your chimney needs doing.'

"At the time, I was truly taken in by him, and he ran up a bill for more than £2,000. He took advantage of me, he cashed my cheque, and he didn't do a damn thing.

"Amazingly, he was in my house for two or three days not doing anything, just popping in and out. By the time I realised what was happening, it was too late."

Horner, whose last known address was a caravan at Wombleton, near Malton, admitted a number of trading standards offences relating to that incident at Whitby Magistrates Court in November - saying he was only pleading guilty because he "had no chance of winning anything."

He was ordered to carry out 80 hours' community service, but there was no compensation order and Mr Cawthra fears he will never see his money again.

Horner has now been jailed for 12 months in his absence by a judge at York Crown Court after pleading guilty to five trades description offences in York.

The judge also made him subject to an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO), which bans him from doing any building maintenance work, or risk up to five years in prison. Horner has gone on the run, and is thought to have fled to Ireland.

The court heard he had flouted fines imposed by Pickering magistrates, a community punishment order from Scarborough magistrates and an agreement he signed with York Trading Standards.

Mr Cawthra said: "Hopefully this punishment will send out a strong message. Anything that helps prevent people like him getting away with it has got to be a good thing."

He said of his own experiences: "More important than the money was the hassle and the worry of the whole thing. I can kiss goodbye to the cash, but I cannot forget the upset it caused."

The pensioner has now posted a sign on his door warning doorstep sellers they are not welcome. He has a simple message for anyone confronted by a cold-calling conman: Say no.

He said: "There is one thing I must absolutely stress. Stay away from these people. They are a menace.

"You don't know who they are or what they are liable to do, and as long as we give them a chance they will keep on doing it."

The excuses

These are the excuses Horner used to evade justice -

Court date: December 9, 2005.

Gets himself admitted to hospital by complaining of "chest pains".

Case adjourned.

Pains never independently confirmed.

Seen by a trading standards officer a few days later working on a roof.

Court date: January 12, 2006.

Phones his solicitors to say he was at Leicester Forest East service station and would arrive later. Never did.

Warrant signed for his arrest.

Phones his solicitors a couple of days later and told about hearing on February 9.

Court date: February 9, 2006.

Horner's barrister, Bernard Gateshill, tells the court: "I have never met him. This is the third time I have attended at York Crown Court and our paths have yet to cross."

He said: "He has an association with southern Ireland. Maybe he is there."

Recorder Timothy Roberts QC sentences Horner in his absence to 12 months in jail.

Updated: 11:18 Saturday, February 11, 2006