A rogue roofer has been jailed after targeting a pensioner.

Adam Rafferty, director of Oakwood Wall Coating and Roofing Ltd, was sentenced to 18 months and banned from being a company director for five years at Snaresbrook Crown Court on May 19.

He previously pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation after Redbridge Council's trading standards team started an investigation in 2012.

In summer of 2012, Rafferty cold-called a lone 89-year-old Barkingside resident and offered to carry out some roofing work at the cost of £15,000.

The resident agreed to go to Lloyds TSB in Cranbrook Road, Ilford, but a member of staff became suspicious and alerted the police. 

Rafferty was then interviewed by the council's trading standards team and he suggested his company had been trading for years when it had only been established for two months.

He employed no skilled workmen and company paperwork was illegal as it included no option to terminate contracts.