A South Devon roofer has been found guilty of three offences of making false statements under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 and one offence of attempted deception under the Theft Act 1968, at Plymouth Crown Court on Monday 12 November.

The case against Michael Barney, aged 45, of Summer Lane, Teigngrace, Newton Abbot was brought by Devon County Council Trading Standards Service, after it received a complaint from an elderly couple. They had asked Mr Barney to investigate and fix a water leak from a chimney but were concerned to be told that substantial additional repair work was required to their roof.

Trading Standards investigators found that Mr Barney had made false statements to the couple that roofing work was required, when subsequent expert examination showed this was not the case.

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The couple’s suspicion were first aroused when they were told that the rear roof of their property needed replacing, because the wrong ‘galvanized’ nails had been used to fix their roof slates, instead of copper nails. They later found a quantity of old copper slate nails that had been removed from their roof in their garden below where the work was being carried out. They also found a removed slate with copper nails still clearly cemented to it.

Mr Barney also made false claims that the roof slates could not be re-used and that a chimney capping was cracked and needed replacing when neither was in fact the case. After taking advice, the couple stopped the work and paid another contractor over £2,800 to reinstate the roof.

Mr Barney has been remanded in custody until Friday 7 December for sentencing.

Councillor Brian Berman, Devon County Council’s Executive Member for Communities, said: “When we have to use building or other services, we all rely on businesses and tradesmen to provide an accurate and honest assessment of the work that needs doing. Businessmen who are dishonest and mislead in an attempt to obtain extra work, prey on the vulnerability f their customers and can bring suspicion and disrepute upon a whole trade sector. This case clearly shows that these practices will not be tolerated.”

Consumers can get free advice on a range of consumer issues by calling Consumer Direct on: 08454 040506 and by logging on to the Devon County Council Trading Standards Service website on: www.devon.gov.uk/tradingstandards.