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Rogue traders linked to Hither Green burglar Henry Vincent ordered to pay back just £1 after scam

Rogue traders who ripped off a 60-year-old Dartford man smirked as they were told they would only have to pay £1 compensation.

Three men, a father and his 26-year-old son and a pal conned their victim into believing he had pigeons in his roof.

Last year, they received jail sentences for the fraud and have since been released.

Henry Vincent was killed in a botched burglary
Henry Vincent was killed in a botched burglary

The father and son, David Vincent Senior and David Vincent Junior are related to career criminal Henry Vincent, who died when stabbed with his own screwdriver by a burglary victim.

Vincent's uncle and cousin along with John Baker conned Robert Etheridge, 60, by telling him his fascia boards were rotten and his loft was swarming with rodents, bird nests and maggots.

The trio targeted the man in the St Vincent's Avenue area of Dartford
The trio targeted the man in the St Vincent's Avenue area of Dartford

The trio were sentenced over the matter three weeks after Henry Vincent, 37, was killed during a burglary at the home of pensioner Richard Osborn-Brooks, 78, and his wife, Maureen, 76, in Hither Green, south east London.

Mr Osborn-Brooks was arrested on suspicion of murder but then released without charge.

Vincent Senior was also jailed for six years in 2003 after he and six other members of the family, including Henry Vincent, cheated pensioners out of almost £450,000.

Now after an investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act a judge heard they had benefited by £6,100 by their fraud.

David Vincent Junior, Picture: Kent Police
David Vincent Junior, Picture: Kent Police

But Maidstone Crown Court heard none of them have assets and therefore each will only have to repay a nominal £1.

As prosecutor Trevor Wright told Judge Charles MacDonald QC about the lack of recoverable assets, David Vincent Junior and John Baker, 36, smirked to each other in the dock.

Vincent’s father, 50, didn’t share in the private joke.

David Vincent Senior, Picture: Kent Police
David Vincent Senior, Picture: Kent Police

The judge said they have seven days to pay the £1 or go to prison for seven days.

Vincent Senior, of Wagtail Way, Orpington, Vincent Junior, 26, of Barnfield Road, Orpington, and Baker of Ravensbury Road, Orpington, had made numerous visits to the victim’s home in the St Vincent’s Avenue area, each time asking for more money.

On Monday, November 6 2017, the trio knocked on the victim’s door and told him he had pigeons in his roof.

John Baker. Picture: Kent Police
John Baker. Picture: Kent Police

Vincent Junior then inspected the loft and said part of the roof was rotten and needed to be replaced.

The victim handed over £1,000 after he was told the work would be done the following day.

Vincent Senior and Baker were each jailed for 21 months, while Vincent Junior received an 18 month sentence.

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Dartford

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