Salford roofer jailed and fined for conning vulnerable victims

A Salford roofer has been jailed for 27 months and ordered to pay £12,887 compensation after he left his victim, an elderly widow, with a badly damaged roof and badly out of pocket.

Christopher Parr (37) of Filey Drive, Salford, was dealt with at Preston Crown Court today (January17).

Parr, trading as Up and Over Roofing and Building, was originally called out to look at a leaking skylight.

But he quickly claimed additional work was needed, which was agreed to by the victim, and while this work was being undertaken, he removed roof tiles from a large section of the roof.

He went on to tell the victim that this part of the roof needed to be replaced, and as a result of the tiles already having been removed, she felt she had no alternative but to agree to the work and made five payments into Parr’s bank account totalling £7,800.

Parr then failed to return to complete the work, giving many excuses over three to four months as to why he couldn’t return.

These included being repeatedly let down by scaffolders, that the weather was too bad to work on the roof, he crashed his van, his child and wife were seriously ill and he had been diagnosed with cancer.

The victim’s property was left exposed to the elements throughout the winter months, apart from an ineffective membrane, until she realised that Parr was not going to return.

She then had to pay another trader to reinstall the roof, at a cost of £4,777, and pay a further £300 for redecoration of a room due to a leak in the roof when it was left exposed to the elements by Parr.

When Salford City Council’s Trading Standards team were contacted about this case, they instructed an independent expert to provide a report on the work undertaken.

The report concluded that the work that had been done was of a very poor standard, the value of the work undertaken was zero and the victim would incur additional costs in rectifying the work.

The report also stated that it was highly unlikely, based on the rest of the roof, that the roof Parr had removed needed replacing, as he had claimed.

Following an investigation, Parr was invited to attend an interview with a Trading Standards Officer under caution.

However, after many opportunities to attend interview to provide his version of events, and potential defence, he failed to attend.

Parr was then summoned to court, but failed to attend the first hearing in August 2024. As a result a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Parr was also being investigated by Lancashire Trading Standards for similar offences, for which he was found guilty of in his absence as he failed to attend the trial after pleading not guilty.

As Parr failed to attend court for this trial, a warrant was issued for his arrest to bring him to court for sentencing.

On October 17, 2024 Parr was arrested in relation to the Lancashire Trading Standards case and taken to Preston Magistrates Court where he was put on remand, pending a hearing on October 24, 2024.

At this hearing, he pleaded not guilty for the Salford case, electing to have the matter passed up to Crown Court.

It was decided that he would be sentenced for the Lancashire case after the Salford trial.

In addition, there were also bail offences and a benefit fraud case also pending in relation to Parr brought by the CPS.

Parr changed his plea to guilty for the Salford case at a Pre-Trial Preparation Hearing at Preston Crown Court, so a trial did not go ahead and Parr has been held on remand until the sentencing hearing today.

In addition to the Salford sentencing, Parr was also ordered to pay his Lancashire victim £1,300 compensation and received a prison sentence for this case and benefit fraud cases, bringing his total custodial sentence to 39 months.

Cllr Barbara Bentham, lead member for neighbourhoods, environment and community safety, said: “I’m pleased to hear this sentence today and I hope it sends a strong message to rogue traders who prey on vulnerable people in our city.

“Our Trading Standards team have worked tirelessly to bring this offender to justice and will continue to investigate and prosecute those who think they are above the law.”