TWO brothers have been sentenced to 20 months’ jail after admitting to conspiring to defraud vulnerable and elderly residents by persuading them to have unnecessary roofing and gardening work at their properties.

York Crown Court heard Shane, 24, and Kofi Hooton, 22, of Knaresborough cold-called pensioners and repeatedly visited them for further employment, charging them excessive amounts for shoddy work, between 2012 and last year. The brothers also pleaded guilty to laundering proceeds of their offending.

Sentencing them, Judge Batty QC, said: “The two of you knew perfectly well that you were targeting elderly people. It was a persistent course of conduct.”

The convictions follow the launch of the North Yorkshire Multi-Agency Safeguarding Team to target financial abuse of vulnerable adults.