Fraudsters sentenced after defrauding vulnerable and elderly victims

A total of eight people have been sentenced for cruelly defrauding five vulnerable and elderly victims out of a total of more than £97,000.

The defendants appeared at Chester Crown Court between 27 and 28 July 2026:

• Michael Doran, 34, of Mayfield Gardens, Neston, was sentenced to 55 months after pleading guilty to five counts of conspiracy to defraud.
• Liam Bayley, 29, of Romaine Park, Hartlepool, was sentenced to 43 months after pleading guilty to five counts of conspiracy to defraud.
• Terri-Lee Readman, 26, of Romaine Park, Hartlepool, was sentenced to two years suspended for two years after pleading guilty to five counts of conspiracy to defraud.
• Bradley Carroll, 41, of Cromwell Road, Ellesmere Port, was sentenced to nine months suspended for 18 months after pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.
• Lynn Strange, 52, of Foxhill Close, Liverpool, was sentenced to six months suspended for 12 months after pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.
• Jessica Strange, 30, of Chatterton Road, Liverpool, was sentenced to three months suspended for 12 months after pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.
• Jerry Connors, 19, of Layhams Road, Keston, was sentenced to 15 months suspended for two years after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud.
• Rebecca Field, 46, of Monkton Street, Eamsgate, was sentenced to 10 months suspended for 18 months after pleading guilty to one count of transferring criminal property.

Between July and September 2023, five victims in Ellesmere Port, Rochdale, Coventry, and Northamptonshire were targeted by Doran and the other defendants. This involved persuading the victims to take out cash or write cheques for unwanted building work which was never completed or completed to an incredibly poor standard.

The case began in late July 2023 when Connors attended the address of a vulnerable man in Ellesmere Port and persuaded him to write out cheques worth £34,500 to pay for roof repair work. This was never carried out. Connors arranged for Field to pay these into her account, taking a cut for herself and using the rest to pay for Rolex watches for Connors.

At around the same time, Doran and Bayley, acting separately to Connors, approached the same vulnerable victim and obtained further cheques. They also regularly took him to local ATMs where they would get him to withdraw money. Doran purchased meals and bought food and groceries items after coercing the victim to hand over his bank card. Doran and Bayley stole a total of £33,150 from him.

Several of the cheques were paid into the bank accounts of Readman and then transferred back to Doran and Bayley.

Doran also used Carroll to cash the cheques, who then in turn arranged for them to be transferred into the bank accounts of Lynn and Jessica Strange, who withdrew the cash.

The two groups of fraudsters came into conflict over their victim, as his money ran out. Messages recovered from the phones of the offenders showed that Doran and Connors were fighting over who had the right to continue defrauding him.

The offences only came to light in late September 2023 when the victim’s regular direct debits started to bounce due to lack of funds. He turned to a friend for help, who quickly informed Cheshire Police.

Further police enquiries identified four further vulnerable victims who were targeted by Doran and Bayley.

An elderly lady in Rochdale was persuaded to hand over cheques, cash and bank transfers to the value of £7,800 to Doran and Bayley in late July and early August 2023. The money was laundered through the bank accounts of Readman and Lynn Strange.

An elderly man from Ellesmere Port handed over £5,000 to Doran and Bayley which was paid into the bank account of Readman. This victim was also taken to his bank by Doran and Bayley on two occasions in August and September 2023 to withdraw cash totalling £2,800.

Doran obtained two signed blank cheques from an elderly woman in Coventry in September 2023. The cheques were then written out to the total value of £13,000 and paid into the bank account of Readman.

An elderly woman from Corby in Northamptonshire had unnecessary repairs to her roof of extremely poor workmanship in September 2023. Doran obtained a cheque for £2,000 for this work and Bayley paid this cheque into the bank account of Readman.

Following enquiries into these incidents, all eight defendants were arrested and later charged.

DC Rob Mackay, Ellesmere Port Proactive CID, said:

“This has been a lengthy and complex investigation, and I welcome the sentences handed to the defendants who have now been held accountable for their despicable behaviour.

“They purposefully targeted vulnerable and elderly victims, stealing their hard-earned cash for their own benefit. They even drained the bank account of one of their victims dry, leaving him struggling to keep up direct debit payments while they plotted over who they could target next.

“Sadly, two of the elderly victims pursued by this group have since died and never got to see justice served. I hope the conclusion of this court process today will at least provide some comfort to their loved ones, knowing that these fraudsters have now had to answer for their crimes.

“I hope this case serves as a reminder to people to report any similar offences if they believe they have fallen victim to fraud. You can report information online or by calling 101.”

You can watch Cheshire Police' video of the fraudsters here...