Con man is back in prison

Jun 5 2009

A BOGUS workman known as the King of the Cowboys was back in jail after failing to overturn convictions for ripping off OAPs.

William McPhee conned an 84-year-old blind woman into signing a cheque for £6000, telling her the amount was £600.

Other elderly householders in Ayrshire also parted with thousands of pounds for shoddy repairs.

McPhee, 43, had been freed from the 66-month sentence he was given to await the outcome of his appeal against convictions for fraud.

But the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh rejected claims that there had been no proper identification of McPhee by witnesses.

However, they threw out one charge of defrauding an 82-year-old woman in Troon out of £1900 and attempting to con her out of a further £1900.

The ruling cut McPhee’s jail term by 18 months.

A trial at Ayr Sheriff Court in July 2006 heard how McPhee, of Motherwell, and others offered to carry out roof repairs but grossly overcharged for poor work between 2003 and 2004.

After sentence in August 2006, McPhee lodged an appeal and was freed on bail.

McPhee had been jailed for four years in March 2000 for a similar offences.