Ex-firefighter is left with 'unlivable' home and £13,500 debts after rogue builder stripped out kitchen, bedroom and bathroom then vanished (because he was arrested for armed robbery)

  • Steve Pritchard, 51, from Harlow, wanted to refurbish his house for Christmas
  • Man he hired ripped out interior and vanished after being charged with robbery
  • This left Mr Pritchard with no home for him or his daughters over the Christmas 

Steve Pritchard, 51, from Harlow, Essex, wanted to refurbish his three-bedroom house in time for the Christmas holiday. He is seen in an undated photo 

Steve Pritchard, 51, from Harlow, Essex, wanted to refurbish his three-bedroom house in time for the Christmas holiday. He is seen in an undated photo 

A former firefighter has been left with an 'uninhabitable' home and £13,500 worth of debt after a rogue builder he employed to fit a new kitchen, bathroom and bedroom disappeared – because he had been arrested for armed robbery.

Steve Pritchard, 51, from Harlow, Essex, wanted to refurbish his three-bedroom house in time for the holidays, when his two daughters, Ellie, 20, and Annabelle, 17, were due to join him for a family Christmas.

The man he hired proceeded to rip out the interior of the house and cut off the utilities in preparation for the work. But then he went off the radar, only for Mr Pritchard to later find out he had been remanded in custody on suspicion of  armed robbery. 

'I felt absolutely devastated,' he told MailOnline. 'I was going to have my two daughters home for Christmas but now there is no home to welcome them back to.'

Mr Pritchard, a firefighter of 32 years, hired the builder on the advice of a family friend and paid him an upfront deposit of £4,000. But the problems started early, with the independent builder failing to turn up on the first day, Monday December 3.

He was later to learn this was when the armed robbery allegedly took place.  

Pictured are undated photos of gutted pipework
Stripped-out floorboards

The man he hired proceeded to rip out the interior of the house and cut off the utilities in preparation for the work. Pictured are undated photos of exposed pipes (left) and floorboards (right) after the gutting had taken place 

The builder started work on December 4, and spent the rest of the week at the house, removing all the appliances and stripping back the plaster and floorboards in the bathroom, kitchen and a bedroom, which belonged to Ellie.

During this time he sent a series of invoices for item he claimed to have ordered for the work. According to Mr Pritchard, this included £6,000 for a kitchen from a well-respected company that later insisted it did not generate the invoice – leading him to conclude that the builder had faked it.

'I ended up paying him £13,500 by the end of the week,' Mr Pritchard said. 'I had been trying to get hold of him to check on progress, but did not have any luck.

'Then on Sunday I got an email from his email address from someone purporting to be his daughter saying he had been arrested for a serious offence, but with no more details.

Roof-beams left exposed after the builder cleared out the property

Roof-beams left exposed after the builder cleared out the property

'So I started ringing round to find out what he had been involved in. Then I heard about the robbery. '

At this point, Mr Pritchard realised he would have no home for his family at Christmas. The inside had been gutted and there was no central heating, hot water, or cooking facilities. 

Out of desperation he posted on Facebook explaining his situation and asking for help to repair the damage. 

'I was absolutely overwhelmed by all the messages I got,' he said. 'There were offers of somewhere to live, Christmas dinners, and help with building work, both from former colleagues in the fire service and people I had never met.

'I guess I'd gone from a point when my faith in human nature was several dented due to this odious individual, but then all the wonderful messages really restored my faith in humanity.'

A crowd-funder set up by his niece raised just over £1,000 of its £5,000 target.

Mr Pritchard also thanked Harlow MP Robert Halfon for raising awareness about his situation and helping him with paperwork. 

He is currently dividing his time between his parents' home and that of his fiancée in London, but is still concerned that there will be nowhere for Ellie when she returns from university in Pennsylvania on Thursday.

Mr Pritchard and his eldest daughter, Ellie, who is due to return from America on Thursday 

Mr Pritchard and his eldest daughter, Ellie, who is due to return from America on Thursday 

His youngest, Annabelle, lives with Mr Pritchard's former partner, but will also now not be able to come round for Christmas.

'I've just got a few sports holders full of clothes and am going between a few different houses,' Mr Pritchard said. 'But there isn't enough space at any of them for my daughters, it's them I'm worried about.

'We can't live in the house because it is wrecked and there is no central heating, water, toilets or cooking facilities.'

Mr Halfon told MailOnline: 'Steve has risked his life to save others for over 32 years as a fire fighter, much of this in my constituency of Harlow.

'It is heartbreaking that he has now found himself in such an unfortunate situation just before Christmas. 

'I hope that he is able to raise the money and help that he needs to get his home back and I will continue to support him in anyway that I can.' 

You can donate to the fundraising appeal by clicking this link.  

The kitchen in Mr Pritchard's home following the builder's week-long visit, which has left the house without any central heating, water or cooking facilities 

The kitchen in Mr Pritchard's home following the builder's week-long visit, which has left the house without any central heating, water or cooking facilities 

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