Bochym Manor house, Cury Cross Lanes court hearing result

When they arrived at the property after completion, they were met with a scene of devastation with large amounts of the fabric of the property removed and secreted elsewhere either by or at the direction of the previous owner Dr Mark Payne.

When the Catons took over the manor house they found the fabric of the house had been ripped off (Image: Bochym House/Facebook)

Mr and Mrs Caton first saw Bochym Manor house at Cury Cross Lanes near, Helston in 2014 when they were shown around by the then owner Dr Payne and his late wife.

In 2000, Dr Payne had bought the historic manor house, built circa 1900 although a house is recorded there in the Doomsday Book, for £1 million.

At the time the beautiful Jacobean and gothic-revival manor house was the most expensive house in Cornwall.

In an article in The Times from 2008, long since inaccessible although scraps remain online, Dr Payne said: "I decided to buy Bochym before I even got out of my car and viewed it."

In a post on Facebook the couple said they had visited Poldhu Cove with their children before meeting Mr Payne to look around the house.

They thought they’d be an hour but it ended up being four.

Sarah said when they came out: “I thought... ‘run away!’ Martin said, ‘We have to have it!’.”

Despite Sarah’s misgivings, the couple bought the house as seen including, they thought, all the fixtures and fittings.

Little did they know that after they’d signed the contract, Dr Payne would rip out as much as he could from the manor house including the floors, the doors, bricks, the veranda, the toilets and much more before they arrived and hide it.

The first indication that something was wrong came an hour after completion when Mr Caton and two friends arrived at the top of the drive and found the left pillar at the top of the drive had been completely knocked down.

This removal of the fixture and fittings would lead to a nearly ten year battle with Dr Payne to get them back which, on Thursday this week, ended up in Truro Magistrates’ court.

Magistrates ordered that all the fixture and fittings that had been taken from the manor house in 2015 and since recovered by the police should be returned to the Catons.

The hunt meet at Bochym Manor, Cury, circa 1930-1950 (Image: Hawke, Alfred Herbert)

The items stolen included four panel dark wooden door with metal hinge; 39 pieces of cast iron guttering; 21 pieces of granite edgings; two concrete balls; one metal gate; 11 metal framed stained glass; 15 slate floor slabs; seven wooden framed stained glass, box of broken stained glass, two red bricks, one large mortice lock and key, 92 wooden bookshelves, large quantity of wooden mouldings, large panel of wood, two wooden door shutters, two decorative pieces of wood, pair of ornamental wood brackets, box of metal fittings, six bookshelves, quantity of decorative wooden accoutrements, wooden staircase banister decoration, curved decorative wooden carving, five decorative wooden panels, two wooden doors, seven wooden shelves and a decorative wooden bracket.

The application for the order in respect of the items from the property, namely various building and decorative material from an investigation of a suspected theft in 2015, which had come into the possession of the police, came due to Dr Payne’s failure to comply with court directions and his conduct at previous hearings. Because of his earlier behaviour Dr Payne was barred from taking part that day.

The court heard that the property was viewed by the Catons and an offer made and accepted and contracts exchanged but there was a delay before completion.

Magistrates concluded that the property which Mr Caton viewed and contracted to purchase was the property he purchased.

But they found that Dr Payne had "systematically" removed anything he could from that property. Magistrates said his thoroughness was exhibited by the surveyor’s report and the photographs seen by them which were in stark contrast with the photographs of the sale particulars.

“He took the floors, the doors, the bricks, the veranda, the toilets and so on,” they said. “We conclude that it is not too complex a situation for us to make an order and do not hesitate to order the return of the seized items to Mr Caton who in our view is the owner, it is clear to us that the lawful owner of the property is Mr Martin Caton.

“We are satisfied that they are the permanent parts of Bochym Manor, what in essence made it Bochym Manor and they are part of the property Mr and Mrs Caton purchased.”

Dr Payne was also ordered to pay costs of £4,455 to Devon and Cornwall Police.

The Catons said when they first saw the damage caused they were heartbroken and confused as to why a person would completely destroy a historic building and leave them with nothing and do their best to break them. Mrs Caton said it was a “nightmare”.