A ROGUE Halesowen roofer, who hit a pensioner suffering from cancer with a £2,400 bill for repointing two chimneys, has been jailed for 18 months.

Jason Charles ripped off 79-year-old Maurice Rudge and his wife Janet after claiming the chimneys were unsafe and in urgent need of repair.

The work on their property should only have cost a few hundred pounds but callous Charles overcharged the couple by more than £1,700. Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

Recorder Anthony Potter said 42-year -old Charles had even been caught sleeping on the job - something which showed “obvious contempt” for his victims.

He said: “Whether or not you knew Mr Rudge suffered from cancer I cannot say.

"But I am satisfied you knew he had suffered strokes. It is quite clear he and his wife were deliberately manipulated. You frightened them by telling them their chimneys were dangerous."

The court had been told Charles ran PRS Roofing with his 47-year- old brother Dean Powers, of Cherry Tree Lane, Hayley Green.

Charles, of Birmingham Street, had denied seven charges of fraud but was found guilty by a jury.

Powers had denied two charges of fraud but was also convicted and jailed for 12 months.

The trial had been told Charles went to the home of Mr and Mrs Rudge saying he was working in the area and had noticed the poor state of their chimneys.

He agreed a price for the work but failed to inform them they could cancel the contract. The work he did was incomplete and he had also sliced through a TV aerial cable.

The court was told Charles and Powers also failed to carry out the expected standard of work at the home of another Halesowen couple by advising them what they had done was guaranteed for 30 years.