A despicable rogue trader who fleeced an elderly woman out of her life savings by conning her into having unnecessary work done to her roof has been jailed for just under five years.

After hearing how 87-year-old Vera Rowlands was left devastated and almost destitute, a judge told John Draper: “In short, you have wrecked her life.”

Judge Heather Baucher added: “You went back time and time again and put pressure on her. You repeatedly asked for thousands and thousands of pounds for money in respect of work you hadn’t done.

“Any work you had done was so appalling that an expert described it as such and said he would give it nil value.”

Maidstone Crown Court heard Draper, who has previous convictions for similar offences, first went to the victim’s home in Meopham in March 2013 and persuaded her that her guttering needed cleaning.

“She was impressed with his spiel and let him do the job,” said prosecutor Alex Rooke. “She gave him £930 to do gutter cleaning on the bungalow for a bit less than an hour.

“She was impressed by his manner. She found him reassuring, capable and confident. We see all the qualities of a conman” - Prosecutor Alex Rooke

“She was impressed by his manner. She found him reassuring, capable and confident. We see all the qualities of a conman.”

Draper, 44, returned the following month and told her the timbers in her roof were wet and rotting.

She was concerned and let him go ahead with work. Over about three weeks he regularly visited the bungalow.

“She was paying up,” said Mr Rooke. “A large amount of money went from her bank account. Four figure sums were going out of this elderly lady’s account on a regular basis.

“He never appeared to be dirty or in overalls. To put it bluntly, she was bled dry by this man.”

Draper was arrested in November 2013 after he stopped going to the bungalow and concerns were raised.

“This sort of activity is concerning to society at large - rogue traders preying on the vulnerable,” said Mr Rooke.

“A surveyor looked over this old lady’s roof. His view is that the work carried out is worth at best a few hundred pounds.”

Mr Rooke said the cash from Miss Rowlands that went into Draper’s account totalled £36,600.

“Looking at the conduct overall, it as utterly dishonest,” he continued.

“There is no doubt at all in my mind this was planned. It was sustained. There has been a detrimental effect on her not only her finances, but her health” - Judge Baucher

“It is parasitic, putting it bluntly. It is fraud - simple as that. His defence appears to be ‘Not me guv’.”

Draper, of Ridgeway, Darenth, denied fraud but was convicted.

Mr Rooke said Miss Rowlands’ sister Barbara had lived with her until she went into a care home. Miss Rowlands had power of attorney over her sister’s affairs.

She told in a victim statement how she now had little “emergency savings” left and feared she would not be able to support herself and her sister.

Jailing Draper for four years and 10 months, Judge Baucher told him: “Your own counsel described it as striking revulsion into people’s minds. You deliberately targeted her.

“You carried out some work on guttering and you saw her as easy prey for you to make a substantial gain.”

If there had been a leak, the expert said the cost of repairs would have been in the region of £200.

“You didn’t care a jot,” said the judge.

Miss Rowlands said her home insurance refused her claim because she did not have the necessary receipts.

“I have no doubt whatsoever this is a high culpability matter,” said Judge Baucher.

“There is an abuse of trust as you built up a relationship to the extent she offered you a cup of tea. She carried on believing this work was necessary.

“There is no doubt at all in my mind this was planned. It was sustained. There has been a detrimental effect on her not only her finances, but her health.”

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