A BUILDER who told two elderly brothers that the roof of their house needed work costing four-and-a-half times more than it really was worth has been spared jail.

Lee Bailey, trading as Baileys Building and Roofing Services, has been ordered to repay his victims £8,230 after he admitted a series of breaches in relation to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, as well as two counts of fraud by false representation.

A district judge sitting at Bournemouth Magistrates' Court heard that Bailey, of Mill Street in Corfe Mullen, first visited the property in December 11, 2012, after receiving a tip-off from trader Thomas Bailey, 22, of Bowden Road, Poole.

The two men are not related, and do not work for the same business.

Lee Bailey then went to the house in Grange Road, Broadstone, and told the brothers that work needed to be carried out, without quoting a price.

After removing moss from the roof of the property, he returned to tell his victims that if timbers in the structure were not repaired within the next two to three years, the roof would begin to collapse.

He said the roof would need to be almost entirely rebuilt - work an experienced chartered surveyor was later to call "completely unnecessary".

Although work did need to be carried out, it was in fact minimal and would have cost around £1,600, it was estimated.

However, the defendant, 35, charged the brothers £7,430, which he accepted in cash.

In mitigation, the court heard that the price quoted was correct for replacing the roof, but that Bailey accepted the work itself was unnecessary.

He admitted being a trader knowingly or recklessly engaging in a commercial practice, two counts of engaging in a commercial practice which is a misleading omission, as well as the fraud charges.

Sentencing the defendant to six months behind bars, suspended for 18 months, as well as an 18-month community order, 150 hours of unpaid work and to pay compensation, district judge Stephen Nicholls said the case was "unusual and complex".

"You overcharged two individuals a considerable sum of money," he said.

Bailey left the country for Spain shortly after being made aware of the case against him, but returned a year after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Thomas Bailey pleaded guilty to four charges in relation to the trading regulations in December 2014 at Bournemouth Crown Court, and was ordered to pay compensation to his victims, as well as being sentenced to a conditional discharge for one year.