Essex builder Steve Figg sentenced for ruining family home

A builder who ruined a couple's home after being paid £44,000 to carry out an extension - and later had them arrested - has been ordered to compensate them £85,000. Steve Figg, 35, left Rob and Lucy Davies' home in Langdon Hills, in Basildon, Essex, at risk of collapse in December 2023. Lucy Davies, 38, told Chelmsford Magistrates' Court their lives were "overshadowed by complete horror, despair and chaos" as their dream project fell apart. Figg, of Milton Road, Stanford-le-Hope, admitted 22 breaches of building rules and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years. District judge Christopher Williams described the work as "unsafe, badly executed and repeatedly non-compliant with building regulations". Having seen Figg's work advertised on social media, the Davies hired him to build a rear extension with a kitchen and open-plan living area. But the couple's dream project was left in tatters as Figg left them with no kitchen, running water or back doors, leaving rats free to nest in the property, "terrorising" their three children. "Your home is your safe space and to have this ripped apart with no timeline of when you can have it back is mental torture," Davies to