The family of a Fife pensioner swindled out of nearly £3,000 for his own pre-paid funeral say he nearly died after suffering a major stroke brought on by the stress of losing the money.
Doctors told Tina McLean they did not know if dad Edward Plant, 77, would survive the stroke which she believes was brought on by the stress of the scam cooked up by Barry Stevenson-Hamilton.
Stevenson-Hamilton, of Old Dalkeith Road in Edinburgh, was locked up on Tuesday after pleading guilty to obtaining more than £130,000 by fraud from dozens of victims.
The 39-year-old, who was CEO and director of the company at the time, admitted fraudulently offering prepaid funeral care packages from branches of Stevenson Funeral Directors in Fife.
He sold plans with Cheshire-based funeral giants Avalon which ultimately did not exist.
Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane remanded him in custody until sentencing on August 25, sparking applause from many of his victims who had attended Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
Speaking to The Courier afterwards, Mrs McLean and Mr Plant’s wife of more than 55 years, Christina, described his actions as “deplorable”.
Tina said: “He does not deserve the ground he walks on.
“I just hope if anything happens to him he does not have money to pay for his own funeral.”
Mr and Mrs Plant, from Cardenden, used £3,000 of their own savings as a one-off payment for Edward’s prepaid funeral package in April 2018.
Tina said her father started suffering strokes about 11 years ago and wanted to put funeral arrangements in place.
She said the family were sent apparently legitimate paperwork which was stowed away until they were later contacted by police, who established it was fake.
Tina added: “I was gutted because £3,000 is a lot of money for pensioners to lose.
“Police said his (Stevenson-Hamilton’s) branches were all closed by then and to let them deal with it.
“My dad took a dip in health after it. He was in and out of hospital.
“He had strokes before it but it started getting worse because of it, definitely.
“It was touch and go at one point.
“He was sent for when he was in hospital.
“He was taken there due to a stroke and when in hospital, he took another big stroke.
“Doctors told us they did not know if he would get through that.”
Snared by staff
Sarah Yorke, the principle funeral director at Stevenson Funeral Directors at the time, told The Courier she was suspicious after a colleague said a family had been in touch questioning the funeral plan paperwork.
Ms Yorke said she then examined funeral plan folders in Rosyth and Kirkcaldy and discovered original application forms for the plans were still there.
They should have been sent to Avalon.
The 40-year-old said she spent time copying those originals, as well as copying payment receipts and fake Stevenson certificates which, she says, were sent out to clients in place of the correct Avalon paperwork.
There were also plans with original paperwork sent off, which she believes was all part of the cover up.
After collating enough evidence she confronted Stevenson-Hamilton but he denied it.
She said it appeared Stevenson-Hamilton “couldn’t care less”.
Weeks later, she contacted police who carried out their inquiries.
Ms Yorke, of Kincardine, said: “Integrity is everything when you are in this industry.
“I think it’s scandalous (his actions).
“So many people physically can not afford thousands of pounds for a funeral but then think if they don’t spend all this money they will think to themselves, ‘I don’t love my gran’.
“People get themselves into debt to make sure loved ones get a good send off and our jobs are to make sure that happens, not to rip them off.”
Tightened controls
Ms Yorke also highlighted the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will start regulating the prepaid funeral plans sector on July 29, which she hopes will stop the likes of Stevenson-Hamilton.
The FCA’s website states providers of contracts and intermediaries – including funeral directors – will need to apply for direct authorisation or become an appointed representative of a principal firm to comply with the law.
Ms Yorke, who says she is still owed about two-and-a-half months wages from Stevenson-Hamilton, says it means funeral directors up and down the country will not be able to sell plans unless they go through specific training.
Jail ‘a long time coming’
Victim Susan Mitchell, 57, from Rosyth, said her father paid a cheque for her mother Christina Mathewson’s funeral in May 2019 but Stevenson-Hamilton had it sent to his own bank account instead of the company’s.
Staff at the firm made sure the funeral went ahead as planned but the money was not seen again.
Ms Mitchell said she was “elated” Stevenson-Hamilton had been remanded, adding: “It’s been a long time coming and hanging over all those who lost funeral plans, and hanging over me.”
Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane said there was no point delaying the prison sentence, adding: “I suspect it’s better to start that now.”
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