Shropshire victim angered by conman's sentence
A Shropshire victim of a conman who tricked hundreds of people out of £34,000 by promising money back on their gas and electricity bills says she is disappointed he avoided jail.
Pensioner Katherine Evans said the 200 hours community service given to Shaun Morris was not enough for the damage he had caused.
Mrs Evans, 65 and husband Brian, 64, were one of 310 victims who handed over cash to Morris who claimed he could get up to £5,000 compensation from energy companies – and then simply pocketed the money, becoming aggressive when customers said they wanted to pull out.
Morris, 45, of Stone, was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out unpaid work when he appeared at Stafford Crown Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation, two counts of engaging in aggressive commercial practices and one of engaging in unfair practice between September 2012 and October 2013.
Staffordshire County Council's trading standards leader Gill Heath called the fraud "shocking" in its extent.
Mrs Evans, who lives in Newcastle-on-Clun, said: "He called himself the Energy Compensation Bureau.
"We rang and he arranged to come out and see us. He asked us to have our bill paperwork ready to look at, and when he came he seemed very nice."
She said Morris told them they had been charged too much and for a £100 fee he would take up their case.
"He gave us another piece of paper with very small print telling us that if we didn't hear from him in so many months and he wasn't able to get our money back, we would get our full £100 back."
About six months later the couple had heard nothing, so Mrs Evans called Morris who spun more reassuring lies.
"He said it was all in process, and even said we might be eligible for something because our daughter, who is mildly disabled due to a back injury, lives with us," she said.
But more months passed and still nothing happened, she said, and the next time she rang Morris was "shirty" with her, she said - and then she had a letter from Staffordshire County Council trading standards department saying Energy Compensation Bureau was under investigation.
Mrs Evans said he should have gone to jail.
"Although he's been punished in one way it doesn't seem enough," she said.
"My husband and I are both pensioners, but when you think this man has gone around taking £100 off people who could be a lot worse off than us, and all he gets is 200 hours of community service, well I am annoyed."
