Man in rubbish dumping threat to Ludlow pensioner
A man attempted to get money from a Shropshire pensioner by threatening that he would dump rubbish – cleared on a previous occasion – back into the victim's garden, a court heard.
Thomas Todhunter was said to have been involved in an "unpleasant" offence in which demanded a further £250 from the victim. Todhunter, 23, was given a one-year prison sentence suspended for two years at Shrewsbury Crown Court.
Judge Jim Tindal said it was an unpleasant case.
"It was very nasty and the victim was left upset, distressed and embarrassed," he said.
Todhunter, of Old Ford Walk in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, who had admitted a charge of fraud by misrepresentation, was also order to complete 200 hours' unpaid work.
The court heard that two men had cleared the garden of 86-year-old Peter Whayman at Hillside, Ludlow, in July 2014 and were given a cheque for £500 for the work. The two men asked that no name be put on the cheque.
But six months later in January last year, Todhunter came to the Ludlow address claiming the cheque had not cleared.
He said that if Mr Whayman did not pay up more money, he would arrange for all the waste to be dumped back in the garden.
