Rogue roofers sentenced after Dorset Trading Standards investigation

A couple who operated under the name Your Roof Buddy Ltd and caused distress to vulnerable residents across Dorset have been sentenced following a successful prosecution by Dorset Council’s Trading Standards Service.

Christopher Call (36), of Cooks Hill, Horsham, Surrey, and Georgia Smith (33), of Orchard Gardens, Cranleigh, West Sussex, pleaded guilty part-way through their trial at Bournemouth Crown Court on 24 June 2025. Call admitted to carrying on a business for a fraudulent purpose under the Companies Act 2006, while Smith pleaded guilty to three offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Smith’s company carried out substandard roofing work at inflated prices and falsely claimed to be a member of Checkatrade. Despite being removed from the scheme and instructed to stop using its name and logo, Smith continued to display it on the company’s website.

The pair targeted vulnerable individuals—aged between 65 and 93—who responded to leaflet drops. Call would initially suggest minor repairs, which quickly escalated to claims that entire roofs needed replacing. Customers who questioned the work or refused to pay were threatened with legal action by Smith.

The total quoted for roofing work across four victims amounted to £119,600. An expert building surveyor later assessed the properties and concluded that the work was incompetent, unnecessary, and of no value. All work would need to be redone.

Call was sentenced on 16 September 2025 at Teesside Crown Court, where he also faced charges related to a separate betting fraud conspiracy for which he received 4 years 3 months imprisonment. Smith was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on 18 September 2025.

Call, who previously operated under the name Christopher Heron, had a history of dishonesty offences dating back to 2007, including a five-year prison term for fraud from 2014. His Honour Justice Laird KC commented that whilst Call was not a director of the company, he clearly played a leading role in the fraud and was the controlling mind of Your Roof Buddy Ltd, resulting in substandard work at grossly inflated prices.

Call was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months imprisonment for fraudulent trading to run consecutively with his other sentence.

Smith, the sole director of Your Roof Buddy Ltd, handled customer communications and paperwork. His Honour Justice Fuller KC, sentencing at Bournemouth Crown Court, summed up that Ms Smith’s role as Director attributed to the neglect in the way the company was operating, her partner secured the work which was subcontracted to ‘cowboys’ and that as Director she could not ‘turn a blind eye’ to statutory obligations. Smith was sentenced to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, repay £5000 in compensation and was banned from being a company director for three years.

Cllr Gill Taylor, Dorset Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Housing, said:

“This case is a stark reminder of the devastating impact rogue traders can have on vulnerable members of our community. I commend our Trading Standards team for their tireless work in bringing these individuals to justice.

“This is the second conviction they have achieved this month and work is ongoing on a number of other cases.

Dorset Council will always stand up for residents who are targeted by fraudsters. I urge anyone seeking home repairs to use trusted sources like our ‘Buy With Confidence’ scheme, where traders are properly vetted and approved.”

Visit www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk for more information.