Sorted: Widow loses her pounds 125,000 home to rogue for pounds 50,000.

ELDERLY widow Doreen Warwick thought she could trust John Thompson when he offered to buy her house.

She'd lived in the same road as his late mother and the two women had been friends for years.

But the pudgy shyster wasn't going to let a little thing like his mum's friendship come between him and a fast buck.

Doreen's well-appointed, four bedroom house in Reading, Berks is worth at least pounds 125,000 - but Thompson cashed in on the old lady's confusion and snatched it off her for a mere pounds 20,000 down with another pounds 30,000 payable over TWELVE years.

If Doreen dies before the 12 years is up Thompson's payments end, and he will have wangled himself a pounds 125,000 house for well under pounds 50,000.

Thompson's only concession is to allow Doreen to go on living in her home of the past 29 years - but only on the ground floor.

"I can't believe how stupid I've been," says Doreen, a retired hospital worker.

"I don't know anything about house prices. I had thought about going into a home but I don't think I can afford that now. I could have done if I had sold my home for its full worth. I just want my house back."

Doreen, who has no relatives in this country, has lived alone in the house in College Road, Reading, since her husband Frank died 17 years ago.

After realising she had been conned, she turned in distress to her goddaughter, Nola Wright.

Devastated 

Typography student Nola says: "I'm devastated this has happened to her. Mr Thompson has taken advantage of an elderly lady who really did not know what was going on.

"She had absolutely no idea how much her home was worth. If she had family around her they would never have let her get into this."

Thompson claims the house is worth "at most" pounds 90,000 - which, even if true, still means he's paid way under its true value.

He refused to let us have it independently valued - but we went ahead anyway.

Chartered surveyor Christopher Moore estimated it was worth pounds 125,000 if sold with vacant possession.

We asked Thompson if he agreed that he'd ripped off Doreen.

"I know it looks terrible on paper," he said. "I've been nice to her, but YOU won't say I've been helpful to her.

"You're going to say that I've ripped her off but has she said that I've done anything unreasonable or nasty to her? Because I've not."

When we first confronted Thompson, a laminater by trade, he seemed to have a change of heart and agreed to sell the house back to Doreen - but a few days later changed his mind and decided to hang onto his ill- gotten gains.

We spoke to Age Concern about Doreen's plight and were told: "We advise all elderly people to make sure they get good independent advice before selling their property."

Now Sorted's legal advisers tell us that if Thompson misled Doreen there could be a case for obtaining property by deception and misrepresentation.

We are passing our file onto Thames Valley Police.

SEEKING WORK IS A CRIME

JOBLESS sales director Mark Lindsay has had his benefit slashed - for attending a job interview.

Desperate for employment, Mark flew abroad for three days of interviews with a bank in China.

Instead of applauding his strenuous efforts to find work, the Job Centre was furious that he had broken rules by not telling them in advance.

He was grilled by a fraud investigation officer and had his pounds 50-a-week benefit suspended.

"They made me feel like a criminal for seeking work," said 40-year-old Mark, of Burgess Hill, West Sussex.

Abused

"I was last unemployed 17 years ago. I can say from experience that the unemployment benefit system has swung from being too easily abused by claimants to being too easily abused by staff."

The Employment Service claimed that it was merely following the rule book.

"I can see his point, but we have to protect the benefit system," a spokes- man said. "Although we admire his efforts to find work, if we let him off the next day we'd have another case and we like to treat all people the same."

Ridiculously, Mark would not have been penalised if he hadn't told the Job Centre about his interview - or if he had not bothered looking for work.

He is now awaiting a decision from an adjudication panel and his MP Nicholas Soames is taking up the case.

"It seems to be a most unfortunate case," said Mr Soames. "I shall be writing to the minister concerned to see if there is a fairer way of organising this matter."

GAS BILL SCAM IS HOT AIR

THE promise of lower gas bills proved tempting when a salesman called on Brian and Pat Adams.

The rep from Sterling Power Alliance claimed he could save them a lot of phone calls by finding the cheapest supplier in their area for them.

"He was very pushy," says Pat, of Harrow, Middlesex. "We asked for time to think about it, but he said he was leaving the area, so we had to sign there and then."

The couple paid pounds 40, and that was the last they heard of Sterling Power Alliance.

Deserted

The phone number was unobtainable, the office address was deserted and there was no record of them at Companies House.

Charging a fee up-front to help consumers find a cheaper supplier was banned by the watchdog Ofgas two months ago.

If one of these parasites calls on you, mention section 10, sub-section B of the 1998 modifications to the Gas Act 1986.

Or just tell them that their promises are a load of hot air.

If you want to know about gas competition in your area, contact Ofgas or the Gas Consumer Council. It's free.

SHARKS WARNED

WE REVEALED last month how a London family face losing their home after loan shark First Alliance Mortgage Company charged them pounds 11,000 to arrange a pounds 37,000 mortgage.

Another family, who ended talks with First Alliance after reading our article, then got an unsolicited letter from mortgage broker Capital Credit of Truro, Cornwall. It reads:

"We understand First Alliance were unable to offer you a suitable package, so they asked us to explain our range of products, which will probably be better suited to your needs."

Is this a con? Put it this way: the Office of Fair Trading is considering revoking Capital Credit's consumer credit licence.

We'd expect nothing less for a firm associated with the revolting First Alliance.

WRITE TO SORTED AT THE MIRROR, 1 CANADA SQUARE, LONDON E14 5AP

OR CALL 0171 293 3572. FAX: [phone]. E-MAIL: [e-mail]