Couple ‘distraught’ after shopping for mansion just for earlier proprietor to strip it

May 21, 2023 at 10:58 AM

A pair have been left devastated after discovering the earlier proprietor of their new £1.5million dwelling had stripped it of doorways, home windows, flooring, fireplaces, and even plumbing and electrics. After agreeing the sale with former proprietor Dr Mark Payne, Martin and Sarah Caton made the invention that Bochym Manor was not their dream handmade up of a walnut-panelled library, Jacobean oak staircase and secret passageways.

The couple had been shocked to seek out the house stripped when coming into the gates of the ten-bedroom gothic-revival home in Cornwall.

Stained glass home windows had been taken from the property, together with three of the 4 baths and a part of the library’s wooden panelling, carved by the Bond Street agency that rebuilt the Houses of Parliament.

Dr Payne had additionally taken the staircase from the property’s clock tower in addition to gutting the 13 vacation properties that got here with the property, close to Helston.

The entrance pillar had additionally been knocked down to permit builders’ vans in to life the timeless interiors.

“I was distraught,” stated Mr Caton, a vet and entrepreneur. “It was like a warzone or like a tornado had shredded the place. He took pretty much every door handle, tiles off the wall, the locks were removed.

“There was some very random and weird destruction. I do not perceive the mentality behind it – it is staggering that you would be able to be that merciless really.”

The couple had felt that “one thing wasn’t proper” when Dr Payne made excuses to prevent them from visiting the property.

But they ignored their doubts. “When I noticed it for the primary time, all my worst fears got here true,” said Mr Caton. “I wished to shut the door, stroll away and put it again available on the market and by no means come again.”

The couple – who dreamed of turning the estate into a wedding venue and holiday cottages – estimate that they have been forced to spend a further £1.5 million repairing the properties they purchased in 2014.

As soon as the Catons discovered the damage, they reported it to the police and Cornwall Council. Sellers are not allowed to take fixtures and fittings – items that are attached to the property – without consent from the buyers.

They also need permission from the local authority to take fixtures from a listed building. The police arrested Dr Payne on suspicion of theft, criminal damage and offences within the Planning Act at his new home in Cumbria and recovered a small number of items in April 2015.

But he was released without charge when the council dropped the prosecution fearing that they would not be able to prove he had caused the damage. Mr and Mrs Caton then set about using historic photographs to prove what had been taken and presented it to Cornwall Council.

The authority hired an external lawyer who advised the council that they had “ample proof” to bring a prosecution – but still they refused.

“It’s odd that if we had been to alter a small window with out permission they’ll come after you, however when you destroy a home you might be allowed to drive away with no penalties,” said Mr Caton.

The police kept the items they had seized, and when the criminal prosecution collapsed there was a hearing under the Police Property Act to determine who owned them.

In March, after nine years of fighting to have the items returned, the Catons received some of the valuables after Dr Payne failed to appear of supply any evidence at Truro Magistrates’ Court.

Dr Payne told The Mail on Sunday he is appealing against the ruling. He had been debarred from appearing having produced no evidence, but also said it was an “inconvenient” 1,000-mile round trip for him. The former Economist journalist added: “Had I dedicated any prison injury, had I dedicated any theft, had I dedicated any offences beneath the Planning Act, I’d have been prosecuted. Otherwise, every little thing is simply rumour, innuendo and suspicion.”