Kidderminster plumber spared jail over £2,000 tap bill

A plumber who billed an Oldbury pensioner £2,224 after being called out to his home to repair a leaky tap has been spared a prison sentence.

Steven Greenaway was sentenced after being found guilty of carrying out unnecessary work and also overcharging the 76-year-old man, who was suffering from Huntington's disease.

Greenaway, aged 39, of Marlpool Lane, Kidderminster, had denied two charges of fraud but he was found guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court last month.

And he was yesterday made the subject of a 12-month supervision order, told to carry out 200 hours unpaid work in the community and to pay £500 compensation to the pensioner.

During the trial Mr Mark Jackson, prosecuting for Sandwell Council's trading standards department, said Greenaway called at the pensioner's home because he had a leaking bathroom tap.

But Greenaway charged him for a new bath that the pensioner, who had a number of "chronic" medical conditions, did not need. The jury returned guilty verdicts after just 61 minutes of deliberations last month.

Judge Michael Dudley had earlier directed the panel to find Greenaway not guilty of a third charge of fraud and of stealing £600 from the pensioner

Judge Michael Dudley told 39-year-old Greenaway yesterday: "He was patently an extremely vulnerable gentleman.

"He was reliant on a tradesman doing an honest job for honest pay and the jury found you effectively rooked him of a considerable sum of money.

"He was not expecting to pay for a new bath and, if he was, not for the sum of money you took from him. It is a despicable offence."

He however said Greenaway's conviction was "substantial punishment". He added: "I am sure that what you did to this man will live with you for a long time to come."

The court had been told the self-employed plumber had charged the pensioner for installing the new bath while working as a sub-contractor for 1st Action Maintenance Limited.

Mr Jackson maintained Greenaway never asked permission to remove the old bath or install the new one.

In evidence Greenaway, a father of one, told the jury he had acted above board and stressed he gave the man a fixed price for the work that needed to be done in his bathroom.

Mr Simon Rippon, defending Greenaway, a man of previous good character, said the conviction would badly affect his ability to work as a plumber and that he may now need to find alternative employment.