A rogue roofer who pressured customers into paying thousands of pounds for poor or incomplete work has been given a suspended 21-month prison sentence following a prosecution by trading standards.
Leonard Doe, 44, of Bishops Grove, Hampton, was sentenced at Exeter Crown Court on Wednesday 5 August 2026 after previously pleading guilty to all charges, brought by Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service.
Doe was sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and up to 15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days.
The court also imposed a four-year Criminal Behaviour Order and ordered Doe to pay £9,000 compensation to three victims from Plymouth, Tiverton and Okehampton.
Doe was the sole director of LD & Sons Roofing Ltd, which was incorporated in December 2023.
The court heard that consumers, from Plymouth, Tiverton and Okehampton, contacted the company after searching online for roofing contractors.
Doe would visit properties and provide verbal or written quotes, but his assessments were not thorough and often relied on external drone footage without an internal inspection of the property.
After customers paid deposits and work began, including the removal of roof tiles, they were told that the job was bigger than expected, that a whole new roof was needed, or that the original quoted price would not resolve the problem. The price was then increased, in some cases significantly.
The court was told that any work completed was carried out to a very poor standard. Customers who rejected the higher prices were charged additional sums for materials to restore their existing roofs, and the company’s purported five-year guarantee was not honoured.
The company also proved difficult to contact. Calls were not returned, and letters of complaint sent to the address on company paperwork were returned. It later emerged that the address, which was a virtual office space, had never been rented by the company.
Between them, the three consumers paid Doe’s company £20,105 for work that was either inadequate or not carried out. They also paid a further £14,900 for remedial work.
Doe pleaded guilty to charges brought under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. T
hese included failing to use reasonable care and skill in roof repairs, misleading customers about the work needed, aggressive commercial practices, charging for work that should have been covered by a guarantee, and failing to provide key information including an address and cancellation rights.
Sentencing, Mr Recorder Onslow said the offending involved ‘high culpability, significant financial loss and considerable detriment to the victims’.
He said the offending was committed for personal financial gain and represented an abuse of the trust that victims had placed in Doe.
He said he was ‘just’ able to suspend the 21-month prison sentence, adding that it had been ‘touch and go’.
The Criminal Behaviour Order prevents Doe from cold calling residents to solicit work or employment, acting as a company director, or varying written quotations without providing a full written breakdown and obtaining a customer signature to confirm the change.
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