Rogue roofer who scammed Chorley homeowner handed suspended sentence

A rogue landscaper and roofer who scammed four householders in Chorley and Manchester out of thousands of pounds has been given a suspended 22-month jail sentence.

Fraudulent trader John Joseph Collins of Heather Street in Manchester was investigated by Lancashire County Council's Trading Standards team who discovered that he had failed to carry out work or had done incomplete, substandard or misdescribed jobs.

He traded under the false names of Chris Taylor, Ryan Taylor and John Wilkinson as well as the business names of Ideal Landscapers, New Age Roofing Specialists and Greenacre Landscape Services.

He was given the sentence, suspended for 18 months, at Preston Crown Court on March 24 after pleading guilty in December to four charges of fraudulent trading under the Fraud Act 2006. 

He was also given a three-year Criminal Behaviour Order prohibiting him from offering to do work or carry out any work at residents' homes until after March 23, 2029. 

The court heard how Collins had responded to requests on platforms such as Bark.com and My Builder where householders were looking for traders to carry out landscaping and roofing jobs.

The prosecution followed an investigation into works carried out at four addresses, one in Chorley and three in Greater Manchester, between August 2024 and April 2025. 

The Chorley victim paid Collins to carry out roofing work after identifying a leak, but the repair, which took less than four hours, was charged at £1,400.  A consulting surveyor instructed by Trading Standards concluded in his report that every element of the roofing work was either not attempted or incompetently performed and that the work was entirely worthless.

All of his victims were left financially worse off than before Collins began as they faced further bills to get the work completed or needed to have faulty work redone. Three of the victims all paid for landscaping materials just before or after initial works of clearing and removing had begun. 

In some cases a small amount of materials were delivered.  Once initial and sometimes further payments were obtained, Collins did not return.

In total, funds received by Collins for the minimal work and unfinished landscaping jobs came to £10,600. 

Paul Noone, Head of Trading Standards at Lancashire County Council, said: “Our Trading Standards team works tirelessly to bring rogue traders to justice. By scamming honest, hard-working residents out of thousands of pounds, they cause stress and financial burdens to their victims and families.

"John Joseph Collins failed to carry out work or carried out poor-quality work, whilst gaining substantial amounts of money paid upfront. Thanks to the efforts of our officers, he's now banned from carrying on with his fraudulent work.

"This prosecution and the Criminal Behaviour Order sends a clear signal that we won't tolerate rogue traders in Lancashire, and we'll do everything we can to bring them to justice."

To report a rogue trader, call the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133 or to find trusted local businesses, visit Lancashire’s Safe Trader Scheme at www.safetrader.org.uk