18-month jail term for ‘despicable’ work scam

A vigilant detective spotted a bogus workman lying on top of the roof of a house reading a newspaper sparking an investigation which saw a man jailed for 18 months for the scam yesterday.

The detective work also led to the recovery of €15,000 for the couple who were conned.

Det Garda Robert McCarthy spotted the man reading a newspaper on the roof of a house in Montenotte in Cork on July 22, 2014. When he called to the house, he found that the 78-year-old woman and her husband, who is in his 80s, were very distressed and felt they had been railroaded into an attic conversion when a man called to their house.