A COWBOY workman who was branded “worse than vermin” by a disabled Johnstone pensioner after he nearly blew her and her neighbours sky high has dodged jail for a second time over the incident.

Frank Thirwell, 57, wrongly installed a gas boiler and gas fire in Sandra Brown’s Sycamore Avenue home between October 2008 and June 2009 – ripping her off to the tune of £1,600.

In 2013, he admitted breaching health and safety regulations by installing the boiler and fire without being an approved technician.

Thirwell, then aged 53, was spared jail for the offence, instead being placed on a Community Payback Order requiring him to pay Mrs Brown the money he took and carry out unpaid work.

But in the three-and-a-half years since, he only carried out 90 of the 200 hours of unpaid work he was supposed to and found himself back in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court as a result.

Defence solicitor James Arrol said Thirwell, who was living in Johnstone’s Elm Drive when he botched the job in Mrs Brown’s home, admitted breaching the Community Payback Order, which he described as “of some vintage.”

The lawyer added: “This was a serious offence. He completed 90 of the 200 hours’ unpaid work and the compensation was paid in full.”

Sheriff Tom McCartney pointed out that the case was so old Thirwell had been sentenced by Sheriff Neil Douglas, who has since retired.

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He could have jailed Thirwell for breaching the Community Payback Order but, after hearing he had left Renfrewshire and now lives in his native Newcastle, opted to spare him prison and instead imposed a fine of £800.

In 2013 his victim, then aged 69, launched a scathing attack on Thirwell over his antics.

And she said she didn’t know how Thirwell could live with himself after he endangered the lives of her and her neighbours.

The pensioner, who uses a walking stick and has two hearing aids, told how Thirwell didn’t even use his real name when he was conning her out of £1,600.

Sandra said: “Richard Thirwell was the name he gave us but that’s his middle name.

“We knew him as Richard so he didn’t even give us his real name.

“He was in the house for a couple of days doing the work and we would be talking away, all the while we thought he was called Richard. It’s shocking.”

Sandra said Thirwell came to her house three or four times to fix the appliances he’d installed wrongly – but eventually ignored her calls.

It was then that she contacted Gas Safe to see if they could fix her problems, and their engineers were shocked at what they found.

Sandra said: “They condemned the lot.

“They slapped stickers on everything which said, ‘Unsafe – do not use’.

“They were on the boiler, the pipework, the fire – everything.

“Unknown to us we were living in a place that could’ve blown at any time.

“What he had done was highly illegal.”

Sandra’s whole heating system had to be stripped out and replaced, meaning she went a whole winter without heating or hot water.

She raged: “He’s a dirty, rotten, filthy, swine.

“It’s hard to find the words to describe someone like him that makes money from crooking people.

“Vermin are better to their own kind than he is to other people.

“A rat will try to save another injured rat off the road, it will run out onto the road and try and help it.

“Him? He would go out into the road and see how much money the rat had in its pockets.

“I think he should be charged with attempted murder for endangering our lives like that.

“He just didn’t care, he didn’t give a dam about anyone but himself.

“He is a horrible little toad.”

Thirwell also has a previous conviction for committing fraud by carrying out plumbing work at the homes of two women in Inverclyde while not being CORGI registered.

Thirwell, who used to stay in Kilbarchan, took a total of £2,400 off the women in 2007 and was ordered to carry out unpaid work for that offence.

But he also breached that court order, claiming it was because his father was ill and he’d been given inaccurate information by the social work department.

In 2013 Sheriff Derek Livingston said he didn’t believe Thirwell’s excuses and thought he was “making up that various other people are to blame.”

The Sheriff said Thirwell was “his own worst enemy” before telling him to complete 360 hours unpaid work - 180 hours for ripping off the Inverclyde women and a further 180 hours for breaching the order.

Sheriff McCartney could have jailed Thirwell for breaching the Community Payback Order but, after hearing that he had left Renfrewshire and now lives in his native Newcastle, opted to spare him prison and, instead, imposed a fine of £800.

In 2013, his victim, then aged 69, launched a scathing attack on Thirwell over his antics.

She said she didn’t know how Thirwell could live with himself after he endangered the lives of her and her neighbours.

The pensioner told how the cowboy workman didn’t even use his real name when he was conning her out of £1,600.

Mrs Brown said: “Richard Thirwell was the name he gave us but that’s his middle name.

“We knew him as Richard, so he didn’t even give us his real name.

“He was in the house for a couple of days doing the work and we would be talking away, all the while we thought he was called Richard. It’s shocking.”

Mrs Brown said Thirwell came to her house three or four times to fix the appliances he’d installed wrongly – but eventually ignored her calls.

It was then that she contacted Gas Safe to see if they could fix her problems, and their engineers were shocked at what they found.

Mrs Brown said: “They condemned the lot. They slapped stickers on everything, which said ‘Unsafe – do not use’.

“They were on the boiler, the pipework, the fire – everything.

“Unknown to us, we were living in a place that could’ve blown at any time.

“What he had done was highly illegal.”

Mrs Brown, whose whole heating system had to be stripped out and replaced, meaning she endured a winter without heating or hot water, added: “He’s a dirty, rotten, filthy swine.

“It’s hard to find the words to describe someone like him.

“Vermin are better to their own kind than he is to other people.”