Police Smashed Roofing Scam After Rogue Workers Got Away With Thousands

Published on: 18 Nov, 2025
Updated on: 20 Nov, 2025

William Smith – jailed for of preying on vulnerable people. He hit the headlines early this month when he was mistakenly released from prison – but later turned himself in

More than 20 vulnerable residents – including an elderly man with dementia from Guildford – were deceived out of thousands of pounds at the hands of callous rogue traders.

Approximately £86,000 was taken from the victims, while there was a further £100,000 that the scammers were prevented from taking.

The crimes were detailed when a father and son appeared in court following a three-year police investigation.

Tragically, a couple of the victims have since died, leaving their families picking up the pieces whilst dealing with the grief of losing their loved ones.

The group operated under several fake company names, where they offered roofing and guttering work in Surrey and West Sussex. They would typically quote for a smaller job, and then as the work progressed, would conveniently uncover additional jobs which “needed” doing that increased the price. Whilst they did complete some of the jobs, the work was often substandard and caused additional damage to the properties.

William Smith, 35, and his son Joseph Smith, 18, from Old Woking, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud following a lengthy three-year investigation by officers.

William Smith was jailed for three years and nine months while his son received a suspended sentence.

William Smith hit the headlines earlier this month when he was mistakenly released from Wandsworth Prison. He later gave himself up.

One of their most abhorrent scams occurred in March 2024. Police were contacted by the daughter of a man from Guildford, who said she believed her father, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, was being scammed by rogue traders after they completed work on his roof.

Joseph Smith

The man had safeguarding restrictions on his bank, put in place by his daughter due to his vulnerabilities. This prevented him from withdrawing cash other than in person, and she hoped it would protect him from becoming a victim.

But Joseph Smith took the man away from his home and drove him to his bank so he could withdraw cash.

Messages from the phone of the son, Joseph Smith, have been identified relating specifically to that offence.

Message one: “Literally, I’ve just took the man down the bank. He got me £1,500 out. He owes me and (a 16-year-old co-defendant is mentioned here) seven grand. We just going to get some material”

Message two: “Me n (the 16-year-old co-defendant) might be having about 20 grand off this man”

The first scam had come to police notice in September 2022. The Smiths, under the name of “AAA Roofing and Property Services”, quoted £1,730 for roofing work at a property in Goldsworth Park, Woking.

Later, they claimed the garage roof needed replacing, raising the cost to £13,800. In total, the Smiths tried to charge the man £32,000 as “further issues” had been discovered with the property. The victim paid £13,800, but the work was left incomplete. When a reputable roofer completed the work, this cost a substantially lesser amount of £215.

Around the same time, a man from Horsell, near Woking, contacted “BSJ Roofing” for gutter repairs. The Smiths initially quoted £300 but later told the man his roof had extensive damage caused by squirrels. The cost skyrocketed to £25,000, with the man paying a total of £18,960 to William Smith. The work was poor and caused further damage, including a leak into the living room.

A year later, in September 2023, the police were contacted by the bank of an 84-year-old woman from Woking regarding a potential fraud. The woman disclosed she’d had a visit at her home and was quoted £1,400 for roof repairs.

She later paid £18,800 to “BSJ and Son Roofing/Guttering” after being told additional work was needed. Police intervened before any further payments could be made, but sadly the victim died before the investigation was concluded.

Sergeant Ben Marshall said: “The Smiths targeted the most vulnerable people in our society purely driven by greed without morals. This was made extremely apparent when we saw the messages and photos from their phones, demonstrating no regard for the harm they had caused.

“The common theme was offering to carry out minor roofing work, and then once they had gained the trust of their victims, they would exploit them by uncovering unnecessary additional works and request significant sums of money. It’s awful that some of the victims had no recollection of the interactions or how much money they had paid.

“They then used the money to go on frequent holidays to places like Dubai and Tenerife and buy expensive items like Rolex watches and designer clothing.”

Once police were alerted to the crimes, officers used CCTV footage and financial records to identify the suspects and link them to multiple fraudulent transactions. During forensic examination of the men’s phones, officers were appalled to discover photographs of the victims handing over cash and writing cheques, as if they were proud of the crimes they had committed.

One of the victims shared the effect this ordeal had on them as part of their victim impact statement: “They manipulated me, and I didn’t feel very good about myself for a long time. I still feel ashamed about it to this day.”

When speaking about how the has affected them financially, they shared: “I’m at retirement age now. It is money they took, which was going to be used for my youngest son’s university, or to pay for support for my autistic son’s adulthood. It’s money I had put aside for when I decided to retire. It has had a greater impact on my future.”

At the sentencing court in Croydon, Judge Ms Recorder S Presland said the Smiths saw the vulnerable elderly victims as “cash cows”. William Smith was clearly the “brains of the operation” and that he “organised it and taught the others”.

William Smith was jailed for three years and nine months but Joseph Smith was given a 20-month custodial sentence suspended for 23 months. He is required to complete 50 hours of unpaid work and attend rehabilitation for 30 days.

A 16-year-old male from Pulborough, West Sussex, who cannot be named because of his age, is due to appear at Guildford Magistrates Court for sentencing on Wednesday, December 17.