Workman painted around elderly Nottingham woman’s furniture instead of moving it

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A workman who conned an elderly woman and painted around her furniture instead of moving it has been convicted of fraud.

William Bower, 38, of Tolney Lane, Newark, pleaded guilty at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday (November 28) to two counts of fraud in relation to providing false details to a recommended trader website and false information to his victim to gain money.

Bower claimed to his bed-bound victim, who lives alone in Nottingham, that he had carried out work which he had not done and claimed that jobs needed doing to get her to pay thousands of pounds.

He sent emails late into the night, sent photographs of his wife in her sick bed and took his family to visit the 76-year-old.

However it was found that Bower lied about his name and pleaded poverty, asking for loans of cash and for payment of his van insurance when his bank account records showed there was a healthy balance.

A Nottingham Trading Standards expert went to inspect the property and found that many jobs had not been done or had been done to a poor standard, including painting around furniture in one of the rooms.

The court heard the woman believed that Bower was a friend and relied on him to tell the truth about his work because she could not get out of bed to check it for herself.

He not only provided false details to the woman but also to a trader website which he had been previously kicked off of due to complaints.

Bower will be sentenced after Christmas.