THE council has accused a roofer called Jessey James of being a cowboy trader and "conning" an 83-year-woman from Glasgow's West End, even though their case flopped when it got to court.

Trading Standards pursued a legal case against Mr James, otherwise known as John James, owner of South Side-based firm, Beacons Roofing Services, insisting work carried out at the pensioner's property in plush Dowanhill, which she paid £35,000 for, was only worth £12,000.

But Mr James’s reputation emerged largely intact after the main charge was thrown out, although he was fined £500 for refusing to give the woman a 14-day cooling off period, as is required by law.

Mr James' firm started working on the woman's roof a week after she agreed to the work.

However, an independent inspection was ordered by trading standards after the elderly woman's bank contacted police, concerned about the large sum of money she was transferring out of her account. The council inspection valued the work at £12,000.

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Glasgow City Council pursued legal action against Mr James at Glasgow Sheriff Court, demanding compensation for the customer.

However, only one charge was accepted by the fiscal, during the hearing in March, of a failure to provide a 14-day cooling off period as is required by law. James pleaded guilty to that charge and was fined £500.

Despite this, the council's head of trading standards, Neil Coltart, issued a robust, public statement saying that the woman was overcharged for the work describing the case as "particularly sad."

Beacons Roofing Services has a top rating on Trustedtrader.com and claims to offer "a high standard of workmanship."

Mr James maintains that the elderly woman was not overcharged for the work and denies that his firm was 'cold-calling' customers in Dowanhill.

He said: "We were already working in that street and had been putting brochures through doors.

"If the woman was overcharged, I would have been found guilty of that.The scaffolding alone was valued at £7000 including VAT and we were on site for two weeks with six men.

"We are a limited company, we've been trading for 25 years."

However Mr James admits that the customer was not offered a 14-day cooling off period after agreeing to the work.

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He said: "We thought it was still 10 days, but it's been increased to 14. They wanted the work done straight away. With roofing it's not something that can wait and we had to get scaffolding up first."

In spite of the collapse of his case, Neil Coltart, Head of Trading Standards at Glasgow City Council, said in a written statement: “This is a particularly sad case where an elderly woman was conned out of thousands of pounds with no way of getting it back.

“The tactics these rogue traders use to get business are appalling.

"They target vulnerable people and carry out work which is unnecessary, badly done and overpriced.

“Most reputable tradesmen will not do business in this way.

“Anyone who turns up at your door unannounced and tells you your property is in need of repair work should be told, in no uncertain terms, to leave.”