How do I get this money back?

[CircleOfStrife]

We recently had a new patio laid by a local tradesman, no problem with that. However he brought a man with him most days to help out, in chatting to him he claimed to be a painter/decorator by trade but was just helping out the patio tradesman during a quiet period for himself. The patio tradesman paid him directly, we had nothing to do with this aspect.

As the decorator guy did a good job helping with the patio we asked if he could do some external work on the house. We chose paint/materials and paid him £1500 via bank transfer for these - the description for the bank transfer specifies it was for house decorating and not the patio. I also have a text from him breaking down the charges. This was two weeks ago. However since then it's become clear he has not bought any materials and has no intention of doing the work. We've asked for our money back and he's said he's awaiting a refund for the materials he's bought (which is clearly BS and he's just fobbing us off).

What now - would the police help us if we went to them as it's not a dispute about overcharging or an unfinished job etc as we have seen nothing at all for our money. Is it fraud, theft or neither?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

[AddToBasket]

Where are you in the UK? In Scotland this is non-performance of a contract.

[CircleOfStrife]

I'm in England