A SKIPTON pensioner suffering from dementia was charged nearly three times the going rate for gardening work, Bradford Crown Court heard on Tuesday.

Brian Ward also failed to provide the 81-year-old woman with notification of her right to cancel the contract, or with his business address, the court was told.

Ward, 32, was prosecuted by North Yorkshire County Council’s trading standards service after his victim was visited by her occupational therapist, who alerted the authorities.

Ward was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work and was made the subject of a curfew order between 9pm and 7am for offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

The court was told that an examination by the trading standards team’s arboriculturalist established that the work carried out by Ward for £270 was, in fact, valued at just £100.

The court heard that Ward, of Judges Field, Colne, had a previous conviction dating from 2010, when North Yorkshire County Council trading standards team prosecuted him for aggressive practices in connection with gardening work. He had received a suspended prison sentence and was ordered to complete 240 hours unpaid work on that occasion.

Sentencing Ward, Judge Potter said: “These are serious matters as they represent you ripping off a vulnerable person. This is not the first time you have been prosecuted for ripping off a vulnerable person for work that wasn’t done properly. The previous convictions make the current offences more serious.”

“Brian Ward clearly took advantage of an elderly and vulnerable lady, and I hope that this prosecution sends the message to him and other rogue traders like him that we will not tolerate trading practices such as this in North Yorkshire,” said County Councillor Chris Metcalfe, North Yorkshire’s Executive Member for Trading Standards.

“This prosecution was the result of an intervention by the lady’s occupational therapist, and demonstrates the value of relatives, neighbours, friends and carers of vulnerable residents keeping a watch out for suspicious activity, and reporting it to trading standards.”

Anyone who wishes to report a cold call or traders they are concerned about, on behalf of someone else or themselves, should ring 03454 040506.