TWO men from Stourport men have been jailed for defrauding a pensioner out of £38,350 after persuading him to release equity from his home to invest in non-existent building projects.

William Isaac Winters, aged 34, of East Road, and Kevin Walter Gamble, aged 46, of Bullus Road, were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court after both being found guilty of one charge of obtaining property by deception and two counts of committing fraud by false representation.

They were convicted following a week-long trial at Hereford Crown Court at the end of October.

Winters was given concurrent jail terms of three years and three months for each offence and Gamble two years and nine months for each offence, again to be served concurrently.

The offences were committed between September 2006 and November 2007 after the men befriended the pensioner.

After discovering that he had released equity on his property they persuaded him to part with cash on the pretext that they would invest it in building and renovation projects.

They subsequently talked him into releasing equity from his house on two further occasions in order to take more money from him.

Police launched an investigation after the matter was reported to them in June last year.

Detective Constable Jon Cooper said: “These were despicable offences and the defendants, who have shown no remorse for their actions, targeted this man because they knew he was vulnerable and easy pickings for them.”