Gurpem Singh jailed for £80,000 elderly con

Jun 14 2009 by Adam Jupp, Sunday Sun

TOURING the North in search of his vulnerable prey, heartless Gurpem Singh conned a succession of frail pensioners out of more than £80,000.

The callous crook posed as a door-to-door salesman, forcing worthless tat onto sick and disabled victims and demanding cash in return.

And over the course of four years, he repeatedly invaded their homes and bullied them into paying out huge sums he claimed he was still owed.

Singh, of Farley Drive, Middlesbrough, targeted people in Newcastle, County Durham, and as far south as Leeds in his quest to pay-off debts racked up with loan sharks and casinos.

But he was snared when police installed a covert camera in the home of one of his victims and watched as he forced him to hand over bank notes and write-out blank cheques.

Now, the 36-year-old father-of-one has been jailed for two-and-a-half years at Newcastle Crown Court after admitting eight fraud charges.

Robert Adams, prosecuting, said: “In all counts, it is an identical modus operandi. Items were undoubtedly supplied but were of no value and in some cases, wholly inappropriate for the person they were being sold to.

“Thereafter, he persuaded the person to part with more money, sometimes saying it was for VAT or money still owed. It was a continuous course of action.”

The court heard Singh conned one of his victims – 64-year-old Kenneth Hogg, of Heighington Village, near Newton Aycliffe, County Durham – out of £50,000 in 2006.

Mr Adams said: “It appears from checking the complainant’s bank account that his account was completely emptied out over the course of a four to five-month period. It appears his life savings have disappeared.”

Another of Singh’s victims was wheelchair-bound John Salt, who was living in a flat in Shieldfield House, Newcastle, at the time he was first targeted, in August 2005.

The 78-year-old was forced to buy goods including a jumper and an ornament from Singh, who took five cheques from him, which he cashed to the value of £2345.

In April 2007, Singh returned to Mr Salt’s home and, over the next six months, pressured him into handing over cash and more cheques, this time pocketing £2800.

But detectives had set up surveillance equipment in a bid to trap the conman and, when he visited the flat block again in January 2008, his sickening swindle was caught on camera.

He was seen looking inside Mr Salt’s wallet and picking up his bank statement to see how much he could plunder. Singh even told his victim to put on his coat and go to the cash point to withdraw more money from him.

The scamster also targeted 86-year-old Ethel Gilderoy, of Great Lumley, County Durham, who was cheated out of £175, while 77-year-old Norma Molineaux, of Leeds, was conned into paying out £25,000 between March 2004 and December 2007.