Two relatives of career criminal Henry Vincent, who died when stabbed with his own screwdriver by a burglary victim, have been jailed for swindling a homeowner out of thousands of pounds.

David Vincent 50, and his 26-year-old son, also David, cheated a Dartford householder out of £6,000 by persuading him he needed urgent building work.

The uncle and cousin of Henry Vincent and John Baker conned Robert Etheridge, 60, by telling him his fascia boards were rotten and his loft was swarming with rodents, bird nests and maggots.

They showed him three dead rats and tried to get him to hand over £13,000.

The three wore jackets with the logo Ideal Home Improvement and used a van with the same name, Maidstone Crown Court was told.

But their cunning ruse was discovered when Mr Etheridge contacted his insurance company and the police were informed.

A bona fide builder inspected the so-called work carried out and found it was “valueless, non-urgent and bodged”. The only pests that had been in the loft were the three conmen.

The father and son, from Orpington, and John Baker, 36, of from Eltham, south east London, admitted fraud.

Vincent Snr, who has a previous similar conviction, was jailed for 21 months. His son, a father-of- three, and Baker, were each sentenced to 18 months.

They appeared for sentence three weeks after Henry Vincent, 37, was killed during a burglary at the home of pensioner Richard Osborn-Brooks, 78, and his wife, Maureen, 76, in Hither Green, south east London, on April 4.

Mr Osborn-Brooks was arrested on suspicion of murder but then released without charge.

Prosecutor Trevor Wright said the Vincents went to Mr Etheridge’s home on November 6 last year and offered to remove a pigeon from his roof.

They then told him his fascia boards were rotten and quoted £1,100 to fix them. After feeling intimidated he handed over £1,000.

All three returned the next day. He was then told the beams were rotting and rain had seeped into the roof.

Mr Etheridge was quoted £12,000 to carry out the work. When he replied he did not have that amount, they said they would accept £5,000.

He handed over the cash and they arrived the following day to start work.

He had been saving some of the money to buy a car. He said he paid because he was told the work was urgent.

Judge Philip Statman was told the money could be repaid through the generosity of Vincent Jnr's brother-in-law.

Passing sentence, the judge said the three had deliberately targeted a vulnerable victim.

"You came along at various times to the home address and certain works were performed but not to an appropriate standard by any means,” he said. “To put it in its most neutral form, any work that had been done was a botched job.

"Your victim describes how your visits made him feel intimidated. This was all three of you taking on different roles as part of a joint enterprise to embark upon what was clearly a scam.

Vincent Snr, of Wagtail Way, was jailed for six years in 2003 after he and six other members of the family, including Henry Vincent, cheated pensioners out of almost £450,000.

"This offence was an aberration on his part, for which he is ashamed,” said his lawyer Andrew Collings. “He accepts he is the author of his own misfortune and has been incredibly stupid.

A confiscation hearing will be held at a later date. Judge Statman ordered seizure of the van used.

Investigating Officer Detective Constable Iain Joyce said: ‘All three targeted the victim again and again, each time coming up with even more elaborate excuses to convince the victim to hand over more cash.

“They abused his trust and showed no regard for the impact of their actions.

"Our officers worked alongside Trading Standards to bring all three men to justice and ensure they couldn’t defraud anyone further in such a malicious way.”