A 'BUILDER from hell' who fleeced a 76-year-old out of tens of thousands of pounds wasn’t in court to hear himself being jailed for five years.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of John Hart, who in 1998 featured on the TV programme, after he failed to turn up at Swindon Crown Court earlier this week.

The 61-year-old ripped off a vulnerable pensioner by taking cheques totalling £34,500 for work which would have cost no more than £6,000 to properly carry out.

And a colleague of the builder also told how he saw Hart smash a hole in a ceiling at the house in The Mall to make more work for himself.

It is not the first time Hart has gone to ground in the almost three years the case against him has been running.

When detectives were first contacted by victim David Taylor in August 2014 they spoke to Hart, who made an appointment to go to the police station for questioning.

But he failed to make that meeting and then repeatedly missed court dates, often citing medical conditions, which a judge said he didn’t believe were genuine.

And after the trial finally got underway he attended the first two days but on Tuesday sent a series of messages saying he had been held up on the way.

When he failed to arrive at the time he told his solicitor he would a warrant was issued and the following morning the case continued in his absence.

As a result he was not able to give evidence but also could not be cross examined on his claims of innocence.

But Hart, of Pokesdown, Bournemouth, had denied fraud saying all the work he did at the Old Town house was agreed with the pensioner.

The court heard that Mr Taylor was a ‘confused and timid gentleman’ who had called in a builder after finding a wet patch on his bathroom floor.

Hart took tens of thousands of pounds for shoddy work, much of it unnecessary, and intimidated his victim and pocketing the cash and threatening to walk off the job.

When plumber Steve Longman, who had been subcontracted by the defendant, found out what was going on, he told the pensioner to call the police.

And even then he said Hart approached him in the street offering to 'make a deal' in a bid to stop his giving evidence against him.

Jailing him Judge Tim Mousley QC said: "This was offending that went on over a sustained period and it was also targeted, and I emphasise that word, at Mr Taylor because of his vulnerability.

"I conclude had Mr Longman no acted in the way he did then the defendant's taking advantage of Mr Taylor would, in all probability, have continued.

"There is another factor: that is that the delay of this matter being concluded is all attributable to the defendant.

"In my judgement he deliberately delayed matters knowing Mr Taylor's vulnerability hoping he would not be able to give evidence or even worse."

He also ordered Mr Longman receive a £300 reward saying his actions were 'very public spirited'.

Hart will be dealt with for failing to surrender when he is caught and will also be pursued for the money he took un the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The jury was not told that he has a conviction from 10 years ago when he took a deposit for work which he failed to carry out in Southampton.

And they were also unaware that he had appeared on the ITV programme which targeted dodgy builders.