Jamie Price (Image: South Wales Police)
Last Updated: 13 April 2026
A judge has condemned two brothers as “parasites” after they attempted to swindle thousands of pounds from a vulnerable woman in her 70s by convincing her she owed money for roofing work that had already been paid for.
Danny Price, 19, of Brown Avenue, Llanelli, was handed a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years at Swansea Crown Court after pleading guilty to fraud by false representation. His older brother Jamie Price, 27, formerly of Second Avenue, Clase, Morriston, but now of no fixed abode, had previously been sentenced to 56 months in prison for a series of offences which included the fraud carried out jointly with his sibling.
The con
Prosecutor Brian Simpson told the court that on December 11 last year, Danny Price knocked on the door of the victim’s Swansea home, introduced himself as “Andrew”, and claimed she owed £6,000 in VAT for roofing work. The woman had previously had work carried out on her roof by builders – but the bill had already been settled in full.
The court heard the victim had “significant memory loss issues which would have been obvious to anyone who spoke to her”. She told Price she did not have the money, but he said he would return the following day.
The woman later rang her sister and told her about the cold caller. She was noted to be “agitated and distressed”.
Driven to the building society
The brothers returned on December 12. Jamie Price waited in the car while Danny – again wearing a hi-vis jacket and calling himself “Andrew” – knocked on the pensioner’s door claiming to be from a roofing firm.
They then drove the woman to the Principality building society in Swansea city centre, dropped her off outside, and went to a bookmakers while she went inside.
Staff at the Principality became concerned when the woman explained why she wanted to withdraw £6,000 in cash. They called the police, and the fraud was stopped in its tracks.
Manhunt and arrests
Police identified Jamie Price from CCTV footage in the city centre and traced Danny Price as the registered keeper of the car used to drive the victim into town. Jamie Price was located and arrested on January 6, while Danny Price walked into a police station six days later.
‘Persistent predator’
The court heard Jamie Price has previous convictions for shoplifting, assault, sexual assault, fraud by false representation, and burglary. His history of offending includes targeting people in their 70s and 80s – demanding cash for non-existent gardening and maintenance work. When one victim, a man in his 70s living in Gorseinon, refused to pay, Price threatened to tell police the pensioner was viewing pornography.
He also carried out a series of distraction burglaries against elderly and vulnerable people in Morriston, pretending to be a gardener or claiming a victim’s dog had escaped. He was jailed for three and a half years for those burglaries in 2019, with a judge telling him it was hard to think of a more “despicable” way of making money than stealing from vulnerable men and women in their 70s and 80s.
Sentencing
Judge Paul Thomas KC said the brothers had “cynically and cruelly” tried to take money from a lady with obvious vulnerabilities and had shown their victim “no mercy” as they set about “ruthlessly taking advantage of her”. He said it was a mystery to him how the brothers could sleep at night.
The judge praised Principality staff for identifying the pair as “parasites” and for thwarting the fraud.
He described Jamie Price as a “persistent predator of vulnerable people” and said it seemed Danny Price had thought he would like to learn his sibling’s “vile trade”.
Giles Hayes, representing Danny Price, told the court his client was from a Traveller background, had left school at 14, and had always worked in the family landscaping business. He said the teenager “has no desire to follow his brother’s path”.
Judge Thomas said while Danny Price had been “all too willing” to take part in the scam, he was satisfied the younger brother was “under the malign influence” of Jamie Price at the time. Danny Price has no previous convictions.
With a discount for his guilty plea, Danny Price was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years and ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation course. Judge Thomas said he was suspending the sentence “not without some misgivings”.
Jamie Price had previously been sentenced to 56 months in prison for a series of offences which included the fraud carried out jointly with his brother.
