Thursday, September 4, 2025
Two rogue traders who charged a householder £37,000 for roof repairs which were valued at just £3,000, have been jailed
Bogus builders Tom Lee (pictured left) and Freddy Young (pictured right) kept asking the householder – a man in his mid-60s – for varying amounts of money as they carried out the shoddy work at the property in Crawshawbooth.
Preston Crown Court Sessions House heard that it was only when the man’s bank contacted police that the fraud was ended.
The bank had followed banking protocol having seen their customer withdrawing large sums of money to pay for the work.
Voice notes recovered from Lee’s phone included a contact of Lee talking about the victim, saying: “This job, love it Tom, absolutely love it. There’s loads of lemons about.”
The fraud began when two men – one of them Lee - knocked on the victim’s door, saying work needed doing on his roof.
A leaflet was handed to him, carrying the name ‘Roofing Repair Specialists’.
The men gave a verbal quote of £12,000 for the roof repairs, new PVC facia’s, soffits and gutters, £2,000 for scaffolding and £2,000 to cut down a tree next to the house.
They asked for £3,000 cash straight away to buy materials, the victim paying £400 cash he had on him, and then withdrew £3,000 at the bank.
Lee and Young turned up at the house over the following few days, with the victim making payments to them.
After the bank contacted police, officers went to the house and found three men working there – Young and two others.
A fourth man, believed to be Lee, left prior to police arriving.
An expert witness examined the work carried out on the roof, valuing it at £3,000, even though the victim had paid out £37,000.
The witness described the workmanship as ‘shockingly poor’. For the roof to be repaired properly after Lee's and Young's botched work, cost the victim £15,000.
At the sentencing hearing, the victim read a statement to the court.
He said: “After the incident involving Tom Lee and Freddy Young I was left without a watertight roof for about three months.
“There were water leaks in the attic which I tried to catch in buckets and saucepans and water dripped from the upstairs light fittings. I was at the mercy of bad weather, wind and storms and it snowed towards Christmas.
“Loads of rubbish was left on the front lawn consisting of a pile of broken roof slates and rubble, making access very difficult.”
He continued: “All the work done by Tom Lee and Freddy Young was shoddy and had to be removed before the new roofer could start. Some of the roof batons were not nailed down and none of the roof tiles were nailed down.
“The edge tiles were not trimmed down properly and there were no ridge tiles. If there had been high winds, the roof would probably have blown off.”
Lee, 39, of Lower Eccleshill Road, Darwen, and Young, 27, of Heys Lane, Oswaldtwistle, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation.
On Tuesday (2nd September), Lee was jailed for two years and nine months, and Young for two years and five months.
Support for victims of crime across Lancashire is available through Victim Care Lancashire. Funded by Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw, their team of specially trained Victim Care Advisers offers free, confidential, and non-judgemental support.
This includes emotional support, listening to victims’ concerns, practical help, and signposting to additional services based on individual needs. Further information is available at victimcarelancashire.org