Two Jailed For Con in Yorkshire
A father and son who drove around Yorkshire in expensive sports cars conning thousands of pounds from vulnerable pensioners have been jailed.
Shane Johnson, 54, and Laurence Johnson, 26, persuaded elderly people across Yorkshire and the Midlands to part with their savings for a range of mobility aids, many of which were never delivered.
The pair, from Kegworth, Leicestershire, put the proceeds towards their comfortable homes and luxuries, including driving a Porsche 911 and a Maserati.
One victim, May Bell, now 89, was forced to live for weeks in her lounge when the Johnsons failed to supply the stairlift they had promised.
Mrs Bell, from Sheffield, handed over £2,000 to their firm, Nottingham Mobility, in 2009 but all they did was disconnect her old lift, leaving her unable even to reach her toilet.
A 91-year-old man from Bircotes, Notts, was persuaded to buy five mobility scooters in under a year, paying a net total of more than £5,400.
Today, at Nottingham Crown Court, the Johnsons were jailed for 12 months.
Judge James Sampson told them the sentence was meant as a warning to other unscrupulous traders that "society regards this kind of behaviour as disgraceful''.
The men admitted 12 charges under the Consumer Protection Regulations 2008.
These related to the victims in Sheffield, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire.