Gardener Ryan Anthony Brookes, trading as the LandscapeDr from Runcorn, cheated a Widnes woman out of £4,050 for gardening work he never completed.
He also took £5,094 from another lady in Warrington around a similar time.
Following a prosecution by Halton Borough Council Trading Standards, Brookes appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on 31 July.
Brookes, formerly of Runcorn and now living in Windsor, had advertised his gardening services on Facebook which is where both victims sought to engage with him. His advert gave the impression he was professional and highly skilled.
Brookes attended the properties of the victims and provided a quote for extensive gardening work. However, after obtaining money for materials, a deposit to secure the job, Brookes only showed up for one day.
On this day he proceeded to carry out the demolition phase of the project, but in reality this was a con and a ploy to get the victims to believe work was underway.
Brookes ruined the victims’ gardens, they didn’t receive any materials as part of the payments made and thereafter Brookes was uncontactable. He ignored calls, letters that were sent by the victims were returned and they never received their money back.
The court heard of the devastating impact Brookes has had on his Widnes victim, who read out her victim personal statement herself:
“At the time this started, I had recently lost my husband in the January, after 48 years of marriage. I was vulnerable and in his eyes I must have been easy target.
“Normally I am an astute person, but my grief clouded my judgement. I should have reacted to his volatile change in his attitude when I refused to change the start date. It was my husband’s birthday, the first without him and my emotions were running high.
“But when reality hit, and I realised Ryan Brooke’s was scamming me, I felt an empty painful pit in the bottom my stomach, which I have had ever since.”
At a previous hearing Brookes pleading guilty to four charges of breaches of Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.
Brookes was sentenced to 10 months in prison suspended for two years, with a condition of 150 hours unpaid work, to attend a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement for 15 hours, and was ordered to pay all prosecution costs.