Thatcham man spared jail after conning man out of £200k
Clive Smith, aged 36, of Eliot Close, Thatcham alongside Stephen Green of Cadnam, Southampton was found guilty of fraud at Oxford Crown Court on Saturday (25).
Following a cold-call, Mr Green and Mr Smith began carrying out general maintenance work at Leslie Drain’s home in Summerfield Rise, Goring in 1994.
Once they had befriended him, they coerced him into investing money into a farm in the New Forest.
The defendants then obtained large sums of money from their victim over the 17-year period, claiming that it was for work carried out on the farm.
Mr Drain was a retired physicist and was made an MBE for voluntary services to the environment in 2008.
Oxfordshire County Council’s Trading Standards team were alerted to the fraud in March 2011 following a complaint to Crimestoppers of potential fraud and carried out a joint investigation with Thames Valley Police.
They received a tip-off that Mr Green would be returning later that month.
Mr Green was then arrested on arrival and officers visited the farm, which turned out to be a small plot of land with a mobile home on the site.
As the investigation took place, Dr Drain who had been diagnosed with cancer, was unwell and had to give his statement on video.
He was adamant though that the case continue even if he was unfit to be interviewed if the case went to court.
However, Dr Drain passed away in 2012 aged 85, just a year before the defendants were brought to justice.
Mr Smith was found guilty of one charge of fraud and received an 18-month suspended sentence, 200 hours community service and has to return £23,000 in compensation to the victim’s estate.
Mr Green was charged with two counts of fraud and received a six-year prison sentence and civil action is to be taken to retrieve some of the money to Dr Drain’s estate.
Following the case, chief insp Mark Johns of Thames Valley Police, said: “These were two despicable individuals who preyed on an elderly man, conning him out of excessive amounts of money over 17 years. They showed no remorse throughout the trial.
“Sadly Dr Drain is no longer alive to witness their convictions but he was very relieved that he had the last 12 months of his life without being pestered by these individuals.
“I would like to take this opportunity to encourage anyone who is concerned about a vulnerable relative or neighbour being conned to contact police immediately.”
Pic: Henley Standard/Higgs Group