A PENSIONER paid a builder £2,650 and spent almost twice as much repairing the damage he caused.

Swansea crown court heard it was the second time John Gilmore had cheated an elderly person by pretending to carry out work.

Gilmore, aged 55, of Cilcennin, admitted fraud by false representation and was jailed for nine months.

Lee Reynolds, prosecuting, said Josephine Davies, aged 85, had paid Gilmore £2,650 to carry out various renovations to her bungalow.

But a chartered surveyor who inspected the work thought it was worth no more than £1,431 and that Gilmore, trading as Everlast Roofing, had caused damage that needed to be put right.

Mrs Davies ended up paying another builder £4,597 to rectify the work Gilmore had done.

During an investigation Gilmore was asked who worked for him, and replied 'only Bill and Ben'.

Mr Reynolds said in 2014 Gilmore had been prosecuted for almost identical offending when he cheated another elderly couple.

Janet Gedrych, his barrister, said Gilmore was a genuine builder and denied that he preyed on elderly people. He now appreciated that he had to conduct his business more carefully.

The judge, Recorder Greg Bull, told Gilmore he had not learned from his 2014 prosecution.

"This offending is strikingly similar. No doubt you were warned that any reoffending would have serious consequences. You have completely failed to learn your lesson," added the judge.