A CARER who stole more than £75k from an Emmy-award winning writer to fuel his gambling addiction faces prison after a judge threw out an application to adjourn his case.
Allan John Beacham, of Denton Lane in Wootton, Kent, scrapped an application to withdraw his guilty plea at Salisbury Crown Court on Friday, May 24.
The 66-year-old previously admitted to plundering the finances of Thunderbirds writer Alan Pattillo unknowingly while caring for him in Salisbury.
On the day of his sentencing at Winchester Crown Court on March 8, Beacham made it clear he wanted his guilty plea vacated.
Read more: Carer Allan Beacham files to withdraw guilty plea on day of sentence
Nearly three months later, defence barrister Lawrence Henderson applied to adjourn the case to obtain a statement from Beacham's GP but Judge Adam Feest KC refused to wait any longer.
Judge Feest said: "The basis is not that the defendant was poorly advised or had any pressure put on him.
"In my judgement, this application should be refused. The defendant has had ample time to obtain medical evidence. Even if this was obtained, he still entered a voluntary guilty plea."
During a trial in June, the court heard how Beacham, while living in a house bought for him by Mr Pattillo, stole thousands of pounds from the blind and immobile pensioner to 'dig himself out of the hole' which he had created through gambling.
Beacham had spent £25k on lottery tickets and would regularly steal cash from the 'vulnerable pensioner' to fuel this addiction.
After some £75k had gone missing out of Mr Pattillo's finances, 'dishonest' Beacham was unable to offer any 'real explanation for the unaccounted funds', prosecutors said.
These offences took place between January 1, 2017, and June 1, 2019.
Beacham pleaded guilty to theft on the first day of his second trial on January 8.
His previous trial commenced in June last year - but was halted after a series of lengthy delays.
Read more: Judge apologises to jury and adjourns Allan Beacham theft trial
These included Beacham claiming he was too ill to stand trial before driving around 150 miles back home to Kent.
He also collapsed in the dock one day before the trial was postponed after hearing 30 minutes of prosecution evidence.
Beacham will be sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on June 21.
Judge Feest said: "Because you have now withdrawn your application to withdraw your plea, I will sentence you on June 21.
"You will know that when it comes to sentence the likelihood is it will be a custodial sentence."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here