"Chatty Man" Window Cleaner Ripped-Off Residents All Over London

A “likeable, chatty, charming” bogus window cleaner, who ripped-off residents in four different London borough's, has been jailed for two years.

Levi Bradbury, 31, of Chilton Grove, Surrey Quays, Southwark was convicted of six counts of burglary, three counts of fraud and four counts of theft.



Between May 2013 and September 2014, Bradbury visited blocks of flats on developments in Lewisham, Southwark, Hackney and Tower Hamlets posing as a window cleaner.

After convincing residents to let him in to discuss having their windows cleaned, he pretended to check the properties' windows were closed saying this was necessary before cleaning could commence. 



Each time Bradbury told his victims that payment was needed up front, resulting in several residents handing over money, usually £15 - 25 at a time.

Bradbury told them he needed to get their change and would clean their windows when he came back, however he never returned.

Bradbury convinced some residents he was part of a larger team of window cleaners on scene or working on behalf of their block's management team despite having no identification or cleaning materials with him. 



Occasionally, Bradbury walked with his victims to a cash point so they could withdraw money to pay him but did not return home with them.



During three incidents in 2014 Bradbury offered to go to the cash point on behalf of his victims to withdraw enough money from their accounts to cover his window cleaning services.

The victims handed over their PIN's and Bradbury withdrew £300, £200 and £50 from their accounts.

He returned the card to one victim but not to the other two. 



Bradbury received a payment from one victim, and told her he would return with her change and as he left the address stole £5 cash and a mobile phone.

The phone was located the following day buried under a tree a short distance away from the victim's address using the 'find my phone app'. 



Detective Sergeant Kelly George, of the Met's North East Detection Unit, said: "Bradbury is a likeable, chatty, charming man who used his friendly personality to gain the trust of his victims. 

"I would like to remind the public that they should not invite anyone into their home unless they have the correct identification on them and do not hand over your bank cards or PIN numbers to anyone."