A "callous to the core" cowboy builder who ripped off elderly and vulnerable customers to the tune of £323,000 to fund his gambling addiction has been jailed for six years.

More than a quarter of a million pounds was handed over to Alfie Ackleton by one victim alone.

The money, most of it from an inheritance, was paid to the 35-year-old workman to completely renovate the owner’s property to provide him with a secure future so he did not have to worry about potential care bills.

But Maidstone Crown Court heard this week the renovation was never completed, much of the homeowner’s furniture had not been returned to him and that the true value of the work carried out by Ackleton was £30,000 “at its highest”.

Ackleton, of Dickens Road, Gravesend, admitted one offence of participating in a fraudulent business between November 2012 and May last year in that he carried out unnecessary work or failed to carry out work for which he had been paid, quoted excessive amounts or provided quotes for unnecessary work, and refused to rectify works that had been undertaken but were not completed in a satisfactory manner.

The former Thamesview secondary school pupil also pleaded guilty to eight offences of fraud and one of destroying a chimney.

Jailing the father-of-two, Judge Julian Smith said his offending was more complicated than simply him being described as a rogue trader or cowboy builder.

“It involved pursuing, cajoling and even bullying elderly and vulnerable people into having unnecessary work carried out, and where you did carry out work it was of a poor nature.

“I find you deliberately targeted these people with your persistent and manipulative skills.”

Homeowners in Gillingham, Faversham and Sittingbourne were targeted. One was undergoing cancer treatment and the court was told the stress of the fraud added to her suffering.

She was charged £10,000 for work to her garden which was later valued by an expert at just £400.

"You are manipulative, callous, devious and dishonest to your core... your skills as a fraudster are clear" - Judge Julian Smith, to Ackleton

Ackleton also scammed a customer into believing his roof needed urgent repair work simply by producing a piece of felt.

The court heard any work that was genuinely needed would have cost just under £64,000. However, Ackleton charged his victims a total of £323,000 for his work, which was later valued by Kent County Council Trading Standards at a little under £36,000.

Judge Smith said the impact on those he conned had been profoundly distressing and left them with feelings of humiliation.

“You are manipulative, callous, devious and dishonest to your core... you robbed them of their security and their financial independence... your skills as a fraudster are clear.”

Ackleton has since declared himself bankrupt but a confiscation hearing will be held at a later date.

Ackleton, who left school at 15, only started working as a builder eight years ago and the court was told even his wife described him as “not a very good one”.

Adrian Rohard, defending, said he soon began gambling but “wasn’t very good at that either”, and ended up in financial difficulties.

“Much of the motivation for the work he overcharged for was to fund that habit, to either pay debts or win money back.”

Mr Rohard also told the court that some of the money had been used by Ackleton to pay sub-contractors who subsequently let him down.

The court was told any length of imprisonment would have significant impact on his two children, one of whom has on-going kidney problems and the other has speech difficulties.The court heard Andrew White employed Ackleton to transform his Sittingbourne home after the death of his parents had left him worrying about his own future care.

Ackleton had initially knocked on Mr White’s door, offering to repair his roof at a cost of £8,500.

"At last this individual has been brought to justice for these abhorrent and dishonest fraudulent actions" - Clive Phillips, Trading Standards

However, Ackleton soon learned of the inheritance money and, said Judge Smith, “set about taking it from him” through “charm and manipulation”.

Much of the work was not completed but Mr White, said to be “desperate” that Ackleton did not walk away, handed over a total of £288,000.

Furniture he also gave Ackleton to store for him while the work was carried out has not been returned.

“You strung him along,” said the judge. “You pretended to care for and about him and took all that money, the inheritance and more.”

The court was told the work needed to the property if carried out to a professional standard would have cost £43,000, but Ackleton’s own “incompetent” work only had a true value of £30,000 at best.

According to KCC Trading Standards, Ackleton was arrested after police received an anonymous tip-off that a man was on top of an elderly woman’s roof in Gravesend.

An investigation was then launched into his business, Premier Roofing and Building Solutions, after complaints were made that he was targeting victims and taking money for work on homes that was not wanted or needed.

Seven people in Kent were conned by him. He would offer to complete a cheap job and then convince homeowners their properties needed more urgent repairs, taking the cost into thousands.

Trading Standards operations manager Clive Phillips said: “At last this individual has been brought to justice for these abhorrent and dishonest fraudulent actions which were in the main targeted at vulnerable members of our community.

“The officers in charge of this investigation did a fantastic piece of investigative work to bring this matter to court.”

Mr Phillips also thanked Kent Police and said they would continue to work together to bring other such criminals to justice.

He added: “We always recommend that you don’t accept the first quote given to you when instructing people to do work for you. If you are in any doubt speak with friends or family. If in any doubt just say no – often your gut instincts are right.