A furious builder who stole a couple’s dog has been filmed hurling roof tiles from their £1.8million Tudor cottage in a row over pay.

James Fuller was hired to restore the property in Chilham, Kent, but a dispute with the owners began after he increased the price of the renovation from £800,000 to £1.4million.

The cottage’s owners, Christian Magg and his husband, Greg Taylor, cut ties with Fuller over the rising costs and alleged below-par work at the Grade II-listed property, a court heard.

When Fuller caught wind he would not be paid, he launched a harassment campaign causing more than £160,000 in damage, made death threats and even stole the couple’s dog.

Footage shared on social media shows the 44-year-old, sat on the roof wearing a hoodie, ‘relentlessly’ throwing tiles to the ground. 

He could be heard shouting about needing more money as onlookers said: ‘You need to get him down. He’s not gonna just come down by being asked.’

Fuller, from Ashford, Kent, pleaded guilty to harassment without violence and two counts of criminal damage in July.

When he returned to court in August, the Crown Prosecution Service said the estimated damage of between £20,000 and £30,000 was too low and the case was adjourned again.

Footage shows Fuller throwing tiles from the 16th-century cottage’s roof down to the ground

At his sentencing on September 23, the estimated damage had skyrocketed to £164,000, Folkestone Magistrates’ Court heard.

Josh Murphy, prosecuting, said the renovation of the 16th-century cottage had initially ‘proceeded well’ but there were ‘concerns over the quality of the work and him not attending as regularly as he could’.

The prosecutor added that the owners received death threats, ‘sex allegations’ and had their dog stolen after they terminated work with Fuller.

However, Fuller had not been charged with a separate offence of stealing the animal, the court heard.

Mr Murphy said the builder first targeted the home in the early hours of the morning on June 27 when Mr Magg was asleep.

But it was two days later when Fuller returned looking ‘angry’ before he climbed on the roof and started hurling tiles down to the ground.

He said: ‘It was relentless, and he destroyed as many as he could. He stripped the roof back to the battens and was shouting comments about requiring more money. He destroyed most of the tiles on the roof and the roof pegs.’

Mr Murphy said that the cost of the damage was so high it could no longer be dealt with in the magistrates’ court.

The 44-year-old launched a campaign of harassment causing more than £160,000 in damage

The starting point for sentencing guidelines is a year and six months in custody for the crime.

Summer Carty, defending, said her client had pleaded guilty at an early stage when it was estimated the damage would cost about £30,000 to repair. 

‘The case was adjourned as the statement had not been served upon us and now it’s £160k. Why is it such a large value?’ she said.

‘The quote was sent to me today. I don’t know where that quote came from. The pre-sentencing report is not suitable in light of the new facts.’

She added: ‘He’s now looking at prison, not a community order, and we will contest the amount of the damage there [at crown court]. It will still be a guilty plea, but not on that basis.’

Magistrates agreed to send the case to Canterbury Crown Court for sentence, but a date has yet to be fixed.

Fuller was granted bail until then and must not enter Chilham or contact the property’s owners.

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