A Birmingham conman who lied to a pensioner and pretended to be a handyman, has been jailed for altering cheques she paid to him for work he didn’t even do.
Jamie Larkman, of Park Road in Hockley, Birmingham, knocked on the door of a house on Lydia Croft in Sutton Coldfield in April and told the homeowner that she required some minor maintenance work at the front of her property.
The elderly woman, who suffers from advanced dementia, believed the 39-year-old when he said he could complete the work for a small fee.
In May, he appeared at her door again and asked for payment for the phantom jobs he had done in the weeks after his first visit. Having faith in him, the vulnerable woman wrote out two cheques for a small fee and away Larkman went.
The conman who was clearly dissatisfied with already deceiving a 92-year-old woman, then altered the cheques so he would be able to cash more money out and went to the bank.
Police were alerted to the two counts of fraud in June and Larkman was arrested on suspicion of fraud and breaching a criminal behaviour order (CBO) that banned him from trying to carry out these type of distraction burglaries after he had previous convictions for doing so.
PC Michael Rodenas from the force CID team, said: “Larkman is a predator who specifically targets the elderly and vulnerable.
“It is pleasing that he will not be able to pose any further threat to the community for a significant period of time and truthfully, I welcome the sentence he has been given by the court.
“I hope this can be of some comfort to the community, knowing that a dishonest man pretending to be helpful to those who need it most is now behind bars.”
At Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday (6 October), Larkman was jailed for three years and two months for two counts of fraud and a breach of his CBO.