A Melbourne builder went on a six day rampage with a chainsaw and caused $170,000 damage
Kitchener Crespin has escaped jail after being found guilty of causing $170,000 worth of damage with a chainsaw and sledgehammer.
Kitchener Crespin used the tools when he unleashed on a property in the suburb of Glen Iris, in southeast Melbourne — all because the owners said they would seek legal advice over his demands for more money.
Crespin had a contract for quarter-of-million dollars for work on the property and they had already paid him an additional $100,000.
Unhappy he was still asking for more money they told him they were consulting a lawyer, reported the Nine Network’s A Current Affair.
He went on a six day spree, the final day being recorded on a neighbour’s CCTV camera. They immediately called police.
When officers arrived they found him covered in dust and holding a chainsaw.
He had destroyed the renovation’s framework, cutting through beams and the floor. The entire damage bill came to $170,000.
He was charged him with six counts of criminal damage, to which he defended during a trial that went for almost two months.
Crespin was found guilty, sentenced to 250 hours of community service and ordered to pay $80,000 to the owners, but avoided a prison sentence because his wife had just given birth to twins.
The couple were too afraid to speak on camera but were represented by Phil Dwyer, president of the Builders Collective of Australia.
Kitchener Crespin was found guilty of all 6 charges.
“Emotionally, these people will suffer for years to come,” Mr Dwyer told A Current Affair.
“Add to that probably a couple of hundred thousand of dollars’ worth of damage done. But add to that everything else, legal costs and so on. They’re probably facing half a million dollars.”
Crespin has been suspended by the Building Practitioners Board but Mr Dwyer wanted a more serious punishment handed to Crespin.
“How a builder, who builds things, could damage his own work so much, I don’t know,” he said.
The Glen Iris couple are not the only people who regret hiring Crespin to perform renovations.
Melissa Simpson is a single mother with two sets of twins.
After hiring Crespin, her life became even more complicated.
“He’d sloped the floor not towards the drain, but instead towards the floor,” Ms Simpson said. “Every time you had a shower, the water would go out to the hall instead of the drain.”
“He walked away and refused to come back and fix it.”
Ms Simpson took Crespin to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
“I got awarded a very small amount of money that wouldn’t be enough to fix it to comply with the building code,” she said.
Houy Ngo has also been left well-and-truly out of pocket as a result of Crespin’s dodgy renovations.
Ms Ngo paid $65,000 to have a cafe renovated.
When she criticised some of Crespin’s work, she claims he became incredibly angry.
“Always angry and mad,” Ms Ngo said. “My family very, very sad.”
Houy Ngo (right) paid Kitchener Crespin $65,000 for cafe renovations that did not meet building standards
Ms Ngo’s daughter, Lily, said her mother is now forced to work 16 hours a day, seven days a week to repay a loan she took out for the renovation work.
“He didn’t respect us at all,” she said. “My mum was his employer, she employed him to come here and do the renovation, but he treated her like a joke.”
“He is deceptive, cunning, a liar.”
Kitchener Crespin has been suspended by the Building Practitioners Board
Mr Dwyer would have liked to see a more serious punishment handed to Crespin.
“How a builder, who builds things, could damage his own work so much, I don’t know,” he said.
“A builder’s licence is a privilege. But we seem to have builders licences that don’t mean a lot. We certainly don’t have our regulator acting on cases of this nature.”
Crespin’s registration has been suspended by the Building Practitioners Board.
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