Heartless crooks targeted a vulnerable woman over a two year period.

Callous cowboy builders conned an elderly woman out of £170,000 on work she didn’t need, while her husband was dying.

The heartless crooks targeted the vulnerable woman in her 70s at her home in Waterthorpe over a two year period.

The pensioner was preyed upon by four different groups, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Her case was referenced when a builder was sentenced for laundering nearly £35,000 conned from pensioners by a crime gang doing botched or “entirely unnecessary” roofing and repairs across Sheffield.

Michael Everton, aged 31, ‘cleaned’ over £19,000 swindled from the Waterthorpe woman, who was bullied into work on her house while her husband was dying, the court heard.

Michael Everton was jailed for 20 months | SYP

placeholder image — Michael Everton was jailed for 20 months | SYP

George Hazel-Owram, prosecuting, said Everton was part of an organised crime group operating “across the north” which “defrauded victims from Northumberland down to Sheffield”.

Investigations were carried out by the the National Trading Standards Regional Investigations Team hosted at City of York Council.

Twenty-two others involved in the larger-scale con were convicted in Teeside and it was that investigation which connected Everton with the same Waterthorpe pensioner and led police to his door.

Mr Hazel-Owram said: “Between 2022 and 2024 various groups defrauded members of the public with roofing or property maintenance work which was entirely unnecessary or not completed across South Yorkshire.

“It was part of a much wider organised crime group across the north of England. Mr Everton was responsible for laundering some of the proceeds of the frauds.”

Though Everton’s job was mainly receiving the proceeds through bank transfers, cheques and card machine payments, he was identified as a worker at the site of at least one sloppy driveway job in Sheffield.

There were five Sheffield victims in all and Mr Hazel-Owram described how in May 2022 the Waterthorpe householder was first approached by the smaller group connected to Everton who pointed out roofing repairs needed.

As the work went on Everton withdrew large amounts of cash paid to him by the pensioner.

“Throughout the time the work was being undertaken (the complainant’s) husband was ill in hospital,” said Mr Hazel-Owram.

“In June 2022 he was diagnosed with a terminal illness and passed away in October 2022. The day after the funeral a different group of fraudsters attended saying a different problem had been identified with her roof.

“Different groups of fraudsters were passing (the complainant’s) details between them and identifying that she was vulnerable.”

Mr Hazel-Owram detailed how another pensioner from Stannington paid £7,250 for repairs to a leaky bay window, having had the misfortune of contacting the bogus builders after receiving a flyer.

Two workmen began “ripping lead off the roof” before he had even agreed to a price however he now felt “he had no choice,” said Mr Hazel-Owram.

A surveyor who later inspected the handiwork said it had “no monetary value”.

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Everton actually assisted doing half a job on a Bents Green widow’s driveway, with his co-worker known only as “John”.

The retired doctor aged in her 80s was browbeaten into the work over several weeks after initially refusing. When she pointed out the standard of work, the complainant was asked for another £2,500 on top of the £2,800 already paid.

She died before seeing justive served.

In statements read to the court several victims described feeling “stupid” and “vulnerable”.

Everton had three previous convictions for seven offences, including driving without due care and attention and driving while banned.

Rebecca Stevens, defending Everton, said her client had accepted the money laundering scheme after losing a “good job” due to his motoring convictions.

The father-of-one and father-to-be was described by family as a “caring father, son and partner”.

Jailing him for 20 months, Recorder David Allan said: “These complainants were all vulnerable people - they have not received any refunds from their banks and have lost this money.

“£34,000 in total and these people feel as though they’ve been taking advantage of and made fools of. Some of them, at least one, came into contact with you face-to-face.

“This was thousands of pounds, including from a woman in her 70s dealing with the terminal illness and death of her husband.

“After that you didn’t say how could I have done this, you continued to commit these offences against other people.”

Everton, formerly of Nightingale Croft, Rotherham, admitted concealing or disguising criminal property.