An elderly Orpington man has helped to put the man who stole his house behind bars.

John Bell, 78, gave evidence in the case against a gang of conmen from the travelling community who tricked him into signing over his £250,000 home.

Lawrence Rooney, 46, from Sheffield Road in Saxilby, Lincolnshire, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud following a prosecution brought by Bromley Trading Standards earlier this year.

The court heard how Mr Bell, who had lived in his home since 1970, was cold-called in 2013 by two men posing as builders, one of whom was Rooney, and offered property repair services.

To cover the costs that Mr Bell couldn't afford, Rooney hatched a deal which Mr Bell thought meant his home would stay his until he died and then be sold to pay the builders for their work.

In reality, he was taken to solicitors in Sutton by two men and given paperwork to sign, which effectively signed the house over to Rooney. He was later told by another man that he had to leave the house.

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Mr Bell received a Hero award from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) in June to recognise his bravery.

Leon Livermore, CTSI's chief executive, said: "These heartless criminals convinced Mr Bell that he needed major repairs and that the only way of paying for the work was to gift his house to them.

“Following a campaign of manipulation, Mr Bell was driven by one of the gang to a solicitor to sign his house over and then taken to a caravan where he was told to stay for ‘insurance reasons’.

“It is believed that there were other victims but only Mr Bell was brave enough to take the stand and make sure it could not happen to anyone else.”

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Bromley Councillor Kate Lymer: "This is a disgraceful and shameful offence"

Rooney was sentenced to five years in prison on July 13 at Inner London Crown Court.

Judge Owen told Lawrence Rooney, “You, together with your co-conspirators, gained an elderly man’s trust.

"You led him to believe you were helping him but nothing could be further from the truth.

"You callously deceived him into transferring his house to you.”

Cllr Kate Lymer said: “This was a disgraceful and shameful offence and I am very happy with the sentence.

"Mr Bell showed tremendous courage to attend court and give evidence, and has since been recognised for his bravery by the Chartered Institute of Trading Standards with a Hero Award.”