A rogue trader has been jailed for defrauding people out of thousands of pounds in Fareham and Horndean.

Paul Tapp, aged 42, turned up at the addresses of two people between 27 June 2022 and 29 June 2022 before ensnaring them in his scam.

During one incident, Tapp knocked on the door of a man aged in his 80s in Fareham, offering to do some guttering work and requesting a £5,000 deposit. This was paid but no work was carried out that day.

Tapp returned the next day where he made a request for a further £5,000 payment for materials and also submitted an invoice for £36,000 for work to be done on the garage gutters. On returning the third day, more money was paid, and the victim was told that if the bank called him about the payments he was making, he should tell them that the money was going to his ‘son in law’.

A cleaner at the property became suspicious of Tapp and called the victim’s son, who in turn called police. Tapp was arrested by officers at the scene.

In a separate incident, Tapp turned up at the address of a woman in her 60s in Horndean and told her she needed her guttering replaced, and quoted £5,500 for this work – £2500 of which was paid by the victim on the day in cash. The remaining amount was requested via bank transfer and cheque. 

A day later, the victim in this incident received a phone call claiming there was an issue and she needed to go to the bank and get more money. This made her suspicious, and she contacted Action Fraud and her bank to cancel the transferred funds. 

Following an investigation, Tapp, of Swallow Gardens in Hatfield, was subsequently charged with two counts of fraud by false representation.

He admitted both charges when he appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court in April.

Appearing at the same court today (Monday 16 June), he was jailed for three years.

DC Josh Seaman, who investigated this case, said: “Rogue traders and doorstep criminals routinely prey on the elderly and vulnerable members of our community, often using confusion tactics or coercion in order to extort them out of vast sums of money.

“In this case, Tapp attempted to defraud one person out of £36,000 and another out of £5,500. 

“Criminals like Tapp are a blight on our community, but it is down to community spirit and community intelligence that we can drive these offenders out of our areas. We urge people to continue to report suspicious activity to the police, to look out for your vulnerable neighbours, friends or relatives, and to report crime to Action Fraud or the police.”

We encourage people to read the advice and information on doorstep crime on our website, and share with anyone you feel could benefit from reading it: https://www.hampshire.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/fa/fraud/personal-fraud/door-to-door-courier-fraud/