HUMBERSIDE Police have played a vital role in bringing one rogue trader to justice.
Sailey Price, 35, from South Yorkshire, was given a five year prison sentence at Sheffield Crown Court for a series of distraction burglaries.
Sailey would target the homes of vulnerable and elderly members of the community offering work.
Once inside; he would then steal various items from their homes. Some of these occurred in the East Riding as well as South Yorkshire.
An elderly vulnerable disabled East Yorkshire lady was one of Sailey Price’s victims back in September 2011 after he deceived her into thinking she needed roofing work on her semi-detached bungalow. The man stole £4000 in cash from her home.
Detectives working on the case recognised a pattern occurring across the whole of the Yorkshire and Humber region and launched a regional operation called ‘Operation Rocker’ to locate the bogus caller.
Operation Rocker was established as a result of a series of distraction and fraud type offences involving a roofing ruse to obtain significant amounts of money from a number of elderly people throughout 2011.
The offences occurred nationally, predominately within the Yorkshire and Humber region, however the offending went as a far as south of Hampshire.
The break the police got was an EVO Fit which was created using the elderly victim’s description from the Goole distraction burglary.
Once the artistic drawing was created, the similarities of the EVO Fit vs. a picture of Sailey PRICE they had obtained, was enough for officers to speak to him. As a result of Sailey PRICE’s arrest he and another man where charged with a number of bogus and fraud type offences.
Sailey Price and a co-accused appeared at Sheffield Crown Court and both were sentenced to five years imprisonment in relation to Operation Rocker offences.
Detective Sergeant Gavin Orsborne from Humberside Police’s Serious Acquisitive Crime Team (SACT) said: “As Sailey PRICE had committed offences in a number of areas, officers from the East Riding began enquiries with neighbouring forces, of which included South Yorkshire police who took the lead on the investigation. As a result of this Sailey has been brought to justice.
“The results of this investigation demonstrate the effective work Humberside police have carried out by contributing to wider enquiries. There is no doubt that our contributions have played an integral part in bringing Sailey to justice.
“Sailey preyed on vulnerable victims claiming to offer genuine services however his real intention was to steal personal possessions for his own financial gain.
“It is difficult to say the number of people we will have prevented becoming victims as a result of the prison sentence, but even if this is only one the operation has been a success.
“Humberside police have a zero tolerance on rogue traders and will continue with the hard work we have demonstrated in this investigation, in the aim of preventing this type of crime occurring in our communities.”
Humberside police would like to remind residents to report any suspicious behaviour. Chances are if it looks suspicious, it probably is. You can do this by using the Humberside police non-emergency number 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.