A rogue gardener ‘ruthlessly exploited’ a vulnerable pensioner when he scammed her out of thousands of pounds for work he never carried out.

David McDonagh answered the widow’s appeal for a tradesman to carry out gardening work but instead he ripped her off instead.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 33-year-old carried out three days of labouring work before disappearing after failing to provide the summer house or make the garden accessible to the pensioner.

Kelly Sherif, prosecuting, said the 77-year-old pensioner had handed over more than £5,000 for gardening work at the home she had recently moved into following the recent death of her husband.

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She said the victim transferred £4,500 to the bank account of McDonagh as well as handing over the rest as cash in hand.

Miss Sherif added: “He didn’t return any of her calls, he simply kept all of the money he had been given to carry out the job.

“The only work that was carried out was the removal of an old shed and rubbish from the garden. No summer house or any other work was carried out or completed.”

The Northern Echo: David McDonagh. Picture: DURHAM CONSTABULARYDavid McDonagh. Picture: DURHAM CONSTABULARY

The court heard how the victim’s bank had returned the money she had transferred into the defendant’s account but the entire experience had left her feeling unable to trust any other tradesmen.

McDonagh, of St Phillips Park, Bishop Auckland, and formerly of Honeypot Lane, Darlington, pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud by false representation when he appeared at magistrates’ court.

Joseph Hudson, in mitigation, urged the judge to spare his client from immediate custody after distancing himself from the Traveller community.

He added McDonagh is expecting his sixth child with his wife and had now adopted a Christian lifestyle to avoid reoffending.

Judge Jonathan Carroll said the defendant had attempted to ‘fleece’ the vulnerable pensioner after identifying her as a soft touch and ‘ruthlessly’ exploited her in April last year.

“This is absolutely the deliberate targeting of a victim due to her vulnerability,” he said. “If you had turned up and it was a young family, who were aware of what was going on, you would not have proceeded with this offending.

“The fact you did proceed with this offending is because you believed you would get away with it.”

The judge jailed McDonagh for 16 months as he show no remorse for his offending.

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