Court shows payback pity on criminal trader

Steven Lee Snr, 52, owes almost £44,000 in compensation to his victims since he was last jailed for fraudulent trading in 2015.

Lee of The Stables, Rosemary Lane, Bartle near Preston, was hauled before magistrates at Blackpool for non payment of the court order involving £43,952.60.

He had an agreement to repay at the rate of £200 a month but yesterday that was reduced to just £100 a month after a plea from his lawyer.

Lee snr and another member of his family were found guilty of conning pensioners throughout the North West into paying vastly inflated bills for work on their homes which never needed doing.

One 88-year-old woman paid Lee’s firm Trademark Roofing Specialists £12,000 for unnecessary work.

Other were driven to cash machines and told to withdraw cash for Lee. Preston Crown Court heard how Lee’s con involved an estimated £60,000 in all.

He is now out of prison and working as a part time car salesman. Asking for the reduction in payment terms lawyer Simon Gretton said: “He suffered three blows – being jailed for 18 months, being made bankrupt while behind bars and having to undergo a triple heart bypass.”