Gambling carer steals £75k from ‘betrayed’ Thunderbirds director

An esteemed Scottish writer and director famous for his work on Thunderbirds and All Quiet on the Western Front was left “betrayed” after his carer stole £75,000 from him.

A family member said Allan Beacham’s actions caused “trauma” for Emmy award-winning film writer Alan Pattillo, despite being trusted with his care. Mr Pattillo died in 2020 from Parkinson’s disease, aged 90.

Beacham attempted to dig himself out of a gambling hole and stole thousands of pounds from Mr Pattillo, who was blind and immobile in his later years. Beacham lived in a house bought for him by Mr Pattillo, where the 66-year-old acted in a “contolling and coercive” way.

He spent £25,000 on lottery tickets and would fuel his gambling addiction by stealing from Mr Pattillo. Prosecutors said Beacham was not able to offer a “’real explanation for the unaccounted funds” after £75,000 had gone missing from Mr Pattillo’s finances.

Beacham was sentenced to three years and 10 months behind bars this month. He also argued a suspended sentence would not have been justified.

Mr Pattillo’s family members described him as a kind man. His Joanne Simmons niece said: “I can’t help but think that the trauma of all of this certainly took a toll on his condition and was a factor to his demise.”

Beacham, who was employed by care firm Miracle Workers, would visit Mr Pattillo in his home in Aberdeenshire in Scotland where he moved to following his retiring. But in 2017, Mr Pattillo decided to move to Salisbury to be closer to family.

Beacham, on a £40,000 salary, came with him on the condition he had a house bought for him so that he could act as a personal full-time carer. Mr Pattillo agreed and Beacham was left in charge of his finances as his health waned.

The convicted carer abused his position by requesting cash from lawyers Batt Broadbent to pay for Mr Pattillo’s expenses. Mr Pattillo was registered blind, hard of hearing and struggled to communicate, the court heard.

Thomas Evans, prosecuting, told jurors previously that Mr Pattillo’s monthly cash expenditure rose from an average of £258 to £4,607. It took just 19 months for Beacham to spend £25,000 of his trusting employer’s money on lottery tickets.

Mr Evans said: “[Beacham] developed an addiction to gambling and that he continually sought to dig himself out of the hole he had made for himself by stealing from a vulnerable pensioner who had entrusted his care to him.”

Evans also said in the opening: “It is the Crown’s case that [Beacham] took the property dishonestly and with the intention of permanently depriving him… The extent of the unaccounted funds, highlights [Beacham’s] intentional and dishonest abuse of his position of trust within [Mr Pattillo’s] life.”

Beacham even expolited his vulnerable employer’s cash as part of a requesta to fund private dental care. A total of £30,408 was requested from Batt Broadbent, but the cost paid to the Private Treatment Centre was just shy of £4,300.

Among Beacham’s other offences were £750 being withdrawn for a wedding gift for niece Constance Pattillo-Heigh. In fact, Ms Pattillo-Heigh was given a gift card equalling £30.

Another £500 was requested for Mr Pattillo’s 90th birthday, but the event did not go ahead. The money was not returned.

Beacham would draw cash from ATMs multiple times each week between January 1, 2017 and June 1, 2019. The requests for cash made to Batt Broadbent were approved by paralegal Alison Bamber until she was replaced by Solicitor Rachel Catherine Wilson in April 20129.

“I was dumbstruck at the number of cash withdrawals,” Ms Wilson said in court last year, during a trial that was abandoned when Beacham contracted Covid. “I estimated £75k was withdrawn over the time Mr Pattillo had been with Batt Broadbent.”

She added: “My concerns were sufficiently grave enough to inform the police straight away.” She informed Mr Pattillo’s lawyer who froze the late writer’s cards and Beacham’s employment was stopped in May 2019.

Simmons said she was concerned by Beacham’s care. “I did not see any improvement,” she told the court. “The flat seemed dirty and Alan’s clothes clearly had food stains all over them.” The retired paramedic said she told her uncle they should get a cleaner for the flat, but was told that Beacham would not agree to it despite it being a good idea.

“Alan thought that this might be a good idea but said that Beacham would never agree to it,” Ms Simmons said. “It was clear to me that Beacham was overstepping his mark as a carer.”

His Honour Judge Adam Feest KC said: “Vulnerable members of society, whatever age they may be, must be protected from those who choose to prey upon them… I am quite satisfied that this is a case of high culpability.”

He added: “You have deliberately targeted him on the basis of his vulnerability – that you were all too aware of.”