A rogue trader who took more than £66,000 from a family to repair their aunt’s house while she was in a care home has been jailed for fraud. Anthony Pounder, of Lime Crescent in Hartlepool , failed to carry out the work to a house in Blackhall Colliery that he was hired to do.

Durham County Council’s community protection service was contacted after Pounder, operating as Advanced Roofing and Building, was paid a total of £66,660 across 26 bank transfers but failed to carry out the work. He had been employed by the homeowner’s niece who wanted work done to her aunt’s home while she was in care to improve the living conditions in anticipation of her moving back into it.

A few months after work started, the niece visited her aunt’s property and found the house in a state of disarray. Pound

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