A ROGUE trader who pressurised elderly householders into having unnecessary work done on their homes and demanded payment for tasks he had not carried out is still facing the threat of jail.

Terence Burnside, 52, from Darlington, dodged prison last year when he was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, with 300 hours of unpaid community work and a £4,500 fine.

He returned to court on Friday to learn that £23,500 of the £50,000 he made from his crimes will be confiscated – and he has until February to hand it over or spend 15 months behind bars in default.

Burnside pleaded for longer to get the money together, saying many of the assets he has to sell – machinery, a van and equipment – are not worth as much as the price tag put on them by prosecutors.

He told Judge Howard Crowson, sitting at Teesside Crown Court, that he was travelling around Europe looking for work and is desperate to pay back his seven victims from North Yorkshire.

At a hearing last summer, as he was about to go on trial, Burnside pleaded guilty to a string of charges arising from jobs in the Northallerton and Thirsk areas between June 2008 and October 2009.

He admitted six charges of engaging in an unfair practice, two frauds, two of aggressive commercial practice, and one of engaging in a practice by means of misleading action.

The court heard that Burnside’s victims were all elderly people and included an 81- year-old woman suffering from arthritis, from whom he demanded £3,500 a day after their contract was agreed.

North Yorkshire County Council said he also claimed he had re-laid flagstones to the rear of her property and repaired and redecorated her garage when the work had not been carried out.

On other occasions, Burnside used new ridge tiles when old ones could have been recycled, and also fitted broken ones to the gable ends of the homes of different pensioners.

In August 2009, he harangued a woman for payment, warned he would stop work unless she settled a bill and told her how much she could take from a cashpoint machine in one day.

He admitted telling the woman not to inform her family, and told her he needed the money because he had two disabled sisters and wanted to pay for a trip to Blackpool for his parents.

One of the charges related to him removing asbestos from a roof and leaving contaminated cement boards without trying to stop the spread of harmful fibres.

Burnside, of Pease Street, also targeted two men and provided falsified written receipts claiming ridge tiles had been reset while demanding £2,500 and then £2,400, the court heard.

Councillor Chris Metcalfe, North Yorkshire’s executive member for trading standards, said: “This is an excellent result for the victims, who Burnside ruthlessly took advantage of for his own financial gain.

“Offenders of this type are reminded once again that North Yorkshire County Council will not tolerate such behaviour and will take all appropriate steps to safeguard our residents.”