According to the Sleaford Standard, the former serviceman and mortgage adviser was arrested as he returned from a holiday in Abu Dhabi after the couple reported the kitchen missing.

Darren Newton has subsequently been banned from operating by the Financial Conduct Authority and forced to sell his interest in his business, Mortgageforce, of Carre Street, Sleaford.

The adviser was eventually found guilty at Lincoln Magistrates Court for paying for appliances and cupboards to be stripped from the home – potentially taking around £15,000 off its value. He was sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court.

Newton denied the charges, but admitted in court he had lied to a detective when he told her he had sent the house keys to the mortgage provider that June.

Mortgageforce declined to comment.