Two fraudsters who charged a vulnerable homeowner more than £128,000 for shoddy building work have been jailed.

Luke Ockenden, 27, of Yateley, and Peter Tannahill, 41, of Leacroft, Staines-upon-Thames, targeted an Islington woman over the course of three months.

The judge at Snaresbrook Crown Court said the scheme drained the vicitm of her life savings.

The court was told that Ockenden and Tannahill, trading under the name of Luke’s Tree and Landscapes, were initially hired to remove a tree from the victim’s property for £300.

But from January to March 2021 the duo coerced the woman into other building work including lead replacement, brickwork sealing, exterior house painting and interior plastering.

In total the fraudsters were paid £128,650 for the shoddy work, while Tannahill also attempted to get the victim to add him to her will as a beneficiary.

An expert surveyor has since determined that if the work had been carried out to satisfactory standard, its value would have been around £35,500.

In reality, the work was assessed to have a value of £12,000, indicating that most of it was poorly executed.

Ockenden and Tannahill were both found guilty of being involved in a fraudulent scheme targeting a vulnerable homeowner on Wednesday (August 9).

In relation to Ockenden, the judge noted that his offending was “aggravated by implied threats of violence” and that he had “shown no remorse”.

He was jailed for 36 months and Tannahill for 42 months, with the 41-year-old receiving more time for his attempts to be added to the victim’s will.

Following the duo’s sentencing, Cllr John Woolf, Islington Council’s executive member for community safety, said: “In this very upsetting case, one of our residents was harassed and defrauded in their own home, where they should have been able to feel safe.

“Thanks to our Trading Standards and Legal Services teams, action has been taken and the culprits have faced justice.

“We will take similar tough action against anyone who comes to our borough and rips off our residents like this.

He added: “Our Trading Standards team is here to support and assist anyone who feels they may have been a victim of fraud. We are on your side.”

Islington Council added that as part of the sentencing process, it will be asking the court to award compensation to the victim to alleviate the financial losses incurred during the scam.