IT is every resident’s nightmare: who can you trust when the roof starts leaking and humongous quotes for repairs start flying in?

But a man who tried to take advantage of this minefield by taking £22,000 for shoddy and unnecessary work has found himself with a jail sentence after being prosecuted by the council.

Darren Conroy from Southwark was sentenced last week at Snaresbrook Crown Court, after admitting to two offences including money laundering and converting criminal property. He was given 16 months for each offence, with the sentences running concurrently, after being described as “thoroughly dishonest” by a judge.

In 2020 two men who went by the names James and Richard convinced a resident that their roof required replacing.

Claiming they were from London Top Roofing Ltd, they quoted the resident £43,000, and demanded a substantial deposit of £22,000. That deposit was paid into Conroy’s personal account, who the two men called “the big boss”. The work to replace the roof was due to start the next day, but the men did not show up. Instead, another roofing company was sub­contracted to do the work.

A payment of £3,500 was made to them from Conroy’s account. However, they also charged the resident £3,655 for building materials and labour. At the same time, the resident received a barrage of messages from “James”, demanding a further £21,000.

Islington Council’s Trading Standards team were contacted and launched an investigation. Officers discovered that London Top Roofing Ltd did not exist as a limited company and their website was a fake front. The work carried out was un­necessary and substandard. The roof started leaking six weeks after it was replaced and the real value was no more than £2,250.

Conroy was found to have received the money from the fraud. Within two days he had paid it all to either his own accounts, or with­drawn it. He also transferred payment to the sub-contracted roofing company.

Councillor John Woolf, executive member for community safety, said: “It’s very distressing that one of our residents was targeted by criminals in their own home, where they should feel safe.”