Grim Window Cleaning News

Ayrshire, Scotland: Michael Dorrans claims he has been forced out of the window cleaning business by rogues. The Crosshouse handyman says he can’t compete against undercutting, unlicensed and uninsured window cleaners. The father-of-three, said: “I can’t afford to feed my family from making an honest living by cleaning windows.” Michael understands that householders are choosing the cheaper service in a bid to save cash during the credit crunch. But he is furious that the council is failing to stamp out on the rogue window cleaners. Michael, who runs his own company Handymen Services, is registered and licensed through East Ayrshire Council. He has been police checked and pays every three years for a licence to work in the area. The fed-up 44 year old handed his window cleaning licence back in disgust to East Ayrshire Council bosses this week. He is planning to simply concentrate on his handyman work now. Michael says he had recently lost 40 window cleaning customers to unlicensed men working for “small change or beer money”. He said: “I’d try to work an hourly rate of £7.50 so I’d make £70 for about a 10-hour day. “It was long hours for not a great deal of money. “I’d built up a good customer base but I found I was being over run by unlicensed operators pushing for business. They were undercutting every time.” Michael claims that dodgy window cleaners have no fear of the EAC enforcement officers, who check their licence to trade, and simply avoid them. A public register of all licensed window cleaners can be viewed by contacting the Civic Government licensing section at EAC’s headquarters. A council spokesman said: “Any person found to be operating without a licence will be reported to police.” Previous blog on licensed cleaners here.

A Newhall window cleaner has been given a three-year prison sentence after a police sting on his home uncovered drugs and cash worth almost £22,000. John Balfour, 52, of Manton Close, made almost £69,000 profit from drug dealing, prosecution barrister Sarah Allen told Derby Crown Court during a sentencing hearing yesterday. The court was told how police raided Balfour's home on January 16 as part of Operation Duck - a series of drug raids across South Derbyshire. They found more than 1.6kg of amphetamine in his home and outbuildings with an estimated street value of £20,870 and 31 blister packs of Viagra, along with £6,023 in cash and 390 Euros. Officers also found bin bags, sandwich bags with ties, kitchen foil and weighing scales, with evidence the scales had been recently used to weigh out amphetamine. Despite admitting possessing the drugs at an earlier hearing, Balfour denied they were his and yesterday told the court that he was looking after them for someone else. He said the cash came from his work as a window cleaner, a compensation payout after the death of his coal mining father from industrial disease in the 1990s, and money he had received from his brother, George, by way of inheritance after he bought his father's house.

Grand Junction, Colorado: Window Cleaner (pictured) Allen Grabe is jailed in Mesa County on $1 million bond. He was arrested on allegations of repeatedly shooting and killing his son, Jacob, 13, as the boy slept in his bedroom at the family’s home late Sept. 11. Shortly after a first volley of shots were fired, Allen Grabe allegedly told his wife, Jacob’s mother, “I had to kill him because you were ruining him,” according to an arrest affidavit. Grabe allegedly returned to his son’s bedroom and continued firing. Mesa County Sheriff’s deputies arriving at the home found Grabe sitting on the front porch clutching a revolver — he laid the gun down saying, “I give up” when approached by deputies. A family friend has described the Grabes as devout Christians who regularly attended a small church in Whitewater, while Allen Grabe ran a local window washing business. His son, who had been treated for a mild form of autism, occasionally went with his father on jobs, according business owners who used Grabe’s window services. Jaquette Grabe told arresting officers on Sept. 11 that several financial stressors had recently come up. Grabe is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Dec. 31 on charges of first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.

A prolific burglar who targeted the elderly has been jailed for six years. Paul O'Hare, 34, posed as a window cleaner or odd-job man to trick his way into pensioners' homes. Maidstone Crown Court heard he struck at three homes in the space of a week in October. At the time he had just been released on licence from a three-year prison sentence imposed for similar burglaries. O'Hare, said to be addicted to heroin and cocaine, stole a purse containing £150 from one couple and conned a 93-year-old Gillingham woman into handing over her bank debit card and PIN number. During the third burglary in Chatham, O'Hare had already been paid £100 for tidying up a backyard when he helped himself to a further £130 and house keys from the 73-year-old homeowner's coat. Jailing him today Judge Philip Statman said O'Hare, of Meadowbank Road, Chatham had caused his victims "untold distress". The court heard that O'Hare committed the offences to feed his drug habit, and in the past has been given help by the courts through drug treatment orders. O'Hare admitted three charges of burglary and asked for another committed at the home of an 85-year-old woman in Rochester on September 30 to be taken into consideration. He was sentenced to six years concurrent for each of the three burglaries.

A Belfast window cleaner with a "simply appalling" driving record has been sentenced to three years in prison. Judge Derek Rodgers told window cleaner Andrew Paul Morrow, 30, of Ardoyne Road, Belfast: "This is as bad as it gets, as far as driving is concerned." Morrow was arrested on 9 February following reports of a car doing hand-brake turns in the Forthriver estate. At one point he drove on the wrong side of the Woodvale Road forcing a motorist to swerve to avoid a collision. A Crown lawyer said Morrow's car collided with two other vehicles resulting in the occupants of those cars sustaining minor injuries. The court heard that when police arrived at the scene, they saw a car driven by Morrow travelling at speed along the Woodvale Road and driving through a red traffic light. Officers used flashing lights and sirens in a bid to stop Morrow but he proceeded along the Shankill Road. The car finally came to a halt after colliding with a telephone junction box close to Tennant Street. As police apprehended Morrow, he climbed into the passenger seat. He proceeded to head-butt a constable during arrest and gave false details to police. Morrow also refused to provide a specimen of breath when he was taken to the police station. During interviews, he admitted to several offences including dangerous driving, driving whilst unfit and assaulting a police officer. He told officers he had no recollection of what had happened. The prosecution lawyer said Morrow had 118 entries on his criminal record, 74 of which are driving related.

A WINDOW cleaner found in Colne centre with a knife stuffed down his sock has been spared an immediate jail term. Drug addict Russell Peter Stansfield had also stolen from a woman customer on his round after she allowed him to use her toilet, Pennine magistrates heard. The defendant, who had never been in trouble before, admitted theft in a house, possessing a knife blade in public, failing to surrender to bail and damage. Stansfield (33), of Albert Road, Colne, was given 12 weeks in jail, suspended for a year, with supervision, and must pay £92 compensation and £80 costs. Mr Stephen Parker (prosecuting) said the defendant took a razor from the customer who had helped him in the past and breached her trust. Police received reports of a man said to be carrying a knife in Colne at 3 p.m. When Standfield was searched in Market Street an eight-inch bladed kitchen knife was found down his sock. Stansfield told police he had been to his parents' home to collect his washing, found the knife on a barbecue in the back yard and put it down his sock on the way home. The defendant had also broken a window at a woman's home. He claimed to police she had invited him round to watch a DVD but would not let him in and he punched the window in temper when he saw her with another man. Mr Nick Cassidy (defending) said custody would be at the forefront of the court's mind but Stansfield could be allowed to work with the probation service. He had a drug problem which he had been able to control, but it had taken grip recently. Stansfield had had no intention to steal from the customer when he went to her home and regretted his actions. Mr Cassidy added the defendant, who had been living in a Colne guest house, had used the knife to open a bag of laundry at his parents' home. The solicitor added: "He had a hole in his pocket so that's why he put it in his sock."

Window cleaner jailed: A window cleaner who took part in a series of distraction raids on shops has been jailed for four years. John Wallis was part of a gang which targeted small businesses in towns throughout the country and took thousands of pounds of cash and goods. At Newcastle Crown Court the 35-year-old, of Azalea Terrace South, Sunderland, admitted nine charges of burglary which happened over a nine month period between October 2007 and May 2008.
Prosecutor Neil Pallister told the court: "The defendant was part of a team of four or five. "The Crown say the offences display a degree of planning and professionalism. "In each offence Wallis was involved in distracting the shop keeper or assistant while another member of the group stole goods or cash." The court heard stores in Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire were raided. And on April 13 a Spar store in Doncaster was targeted, where £2,000 worth of cigarettes were stolen from a rear store room. Mr Recorder William Lowe sentenced Wallis to three-and-a-half years behind bars. The court heard Wallis had served a previous sentence for similar offending but had found work cleaning windows after his release. The judge told him: "The was series of professional burglaries, planned, and inolved obtaining a substantial quantity of cash and cigarettes from small businesses whcih have to struggle anyway to make a living."
Hulk Hogan refuses to pay window cleaning bill: Linda Bollea, wife of wrestler Hulk Hogan, is out of money despite receiving $40,000 a month in temporary alimony payments. "They have to tell me why she's out of money. They have to show me in bank statements," said Ann Loughridge Kerr. In August, both sides in the divorce agreed Linda Bollea would get temporary alimony payments of $40,000 per month. Terry Bollea also agreed to pay some monthly costs like repair and maintenance of their home on Willadel Drive, where Linda now lives. But Linda Bollea's side said the husband is refusing to pay for cable, pest control, window washing and their security system. Greer told Terry Bollea's attorneys their client should pay the cable, pest control and window washing bills, but not the security system payments. That is not Terry Bollea's responsibility, he said.