Rushden conman jailed after taking thousands of pounds from victims

A serial rogue trader from Rushden has been jailed after pleading guilty to 10 crimes and asking the judge to consider 24 more offences that since came to light.

Alan Fitzgerald, of Duck Street, Rushden, admitted 10 counts of fraud through false representation between April and June 2019 when he appeared in Northampton Magistrates' Court in last month.

At that time, 24 more similar offences from between December 2019 to January 2020 that had been reported to Northamptonshire County Council were under investigation.

This investigation has since concluded and Fitzgerald asked Judge Lucking to consider these 24 extra offences when he was sentenced yesterday at Northampton Crown Court (Monday, April 20).

He was jailed for 40 months for each count, to be served concurrently.

The court met virtually through video conferencing and the hearing was met with a few technical difficulties.

Fitzgerald had previously been jailed back in 2014 for six years after cheating vulnerable victims out of £300,000 through similar offending.

Cameron Crowe, representing Trading Standards, said that Fitzgerald had been released on licence in early 2019 and got a job with Safestyle UK, a home improvement company which gets some of its work through cold calling.

Fitzgerald was initially working on the phones for Safestyle UK, but soon progressed to knocking on people's doors offering home improvement works despite his criminal past.

It was not long before Fitzgerald was taking advantage of his position and offering work to be completed by himself, not Safestyle UK.

He took deposits and payments from vulnerable and elderly homeowners but did not carry out or complete the works. He committed nine fraud offences in this time and cost victims £6,600.

In January 2020, further complaints were made about Fitzgerald relating to December 2019 to January 2020.

His two periods of offending between April 2019 to January 2020 cost 34 victims a total of just over £20,000 and the court heard how individually victims lost between £20 up to £3,800.

Of these 34 victims, Fitzgerald targeted 25 people aged 60 or over or suffering with a mobility or cognitive difficulty.

Fitzgerald had knocked on doors across the area, including Wellingborough, Rushden and Thrapston and although he claimed he had not been targeting vulnerable people, Judge Lucking said that cold calling during the day meant he was likely to encounter people of pensionable age.

One victim had described sleepless nights after being scammed by Fitzgerald, who will pay no victim compensation.

Fitzgerald had been remanded in custody since his appearance at magistrates' court in March and will serve at least half of his sentence behind bars.

He will also be subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order for an indefinite period of time and could face a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine or both if he breaches the order.

Cllr Jason Smithers, county council cabinet member for highways and place, said: “It’s great to see another successful prosecution by Trading Standards and the excellent partnership working with Northamptonshire Police, helping to bring unscrupulous traders to account.

“I would like to thank everyone involved in bringing about this prosecution and working towards making Northamptonshire a safer place and one where criminals are deterred.

“Our advice is never to agree to work on the doorstep even if the trader says that it is urgent, but if you do need work done to your property, get quotes from two or three reputable traders and compare them.

“Homeowners can find a Trading Standards approved trader through the national ‘Buy With Confidence’ scheme."

Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant, Chris Stevens, of Northamptonshire Police, said: “Alan Fitzgerald is a repeat and prolific offender who preyed on the elderly and the vulnerable in order to mercilessly scam them out of their hard-earned money.

"I am pleased to see him sentenced to a lengthy spell in prison and would like to commend our colleagues at Trading Standards for leading such a comprehensive and robust investigation that finally saw him brought to justice."