AN elderly woman gave £80 to a roofer who bullied her into paying for work that had not been carried out.

Edward Barclay, 19, said repairs to a neighbouring property in James Street, Seaham, east Durham, required work extending onto the 84-yearold woman’s roof.

David Crook, prosecuting, told Durham Crown Court that although he tried to claim he had carried out work on her roof, she discovered he was lying.

He asked her for £450, then reduced that to £100 when she refused to pay.

Mr Crook said: “Finally, she offered him £80, saying that was all he was getting.

“She was shaken by his aggressive manner. She did not know what he was going to do next.”

Barclay told police the man he was working for told him to go to the house to seek payment.

Barclay, of Blackmoor Walk, Hartlepool, admitted fraud.

Stuart Graham, in mitigation, said: “He accepts it was a mean offence, but he has handed £80 to his solicitors to pay to the woman.

“He no longer works for that man, but accepts he should have known better.”

Imposing a nine-month sentence in a young offenders’ institution, Recorder Anthony Kelbrick told Barclay: “This was an extremely vulnerable old person who you shouted at and bullied.”