‘Trusting Raynor Winn was our biggest mistake’

Gemma Dunstan, Greg Davies & Ffion Lloyd-WilliamsBBC NewsBBC NewsRos Hemmings and her daughter Debbie Adams look again over household photographs A household who declare The Salt Path creator Raynor Winn stole tens of 1000’s of kilos from their enterprise say trusting her was their “largest mistake”.Ros Hemmings and her daughter Debbie, from Pwllheli in Gwynedd, allege Ms Winn – who labored for his or her property enterprise within the early 2000s – stole round £64,000.It comes after an investigation by the Observer contained claims Ms Winn gave deceptive details about her life story in her guide The Salt Path, which has been made into a movie starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs.Ms Winn has referred to as the Observer report “extremely deceptive” and disputed lots of its claims. The 2018 guide The Salt Path, and its current movie adaptation, tells the story of a pair who determine to stroll the 630-mile South West Coast Path after their residence was repossessed following a nasty enterprise deal.However the Observer claimed Ms Winn – whose authorized identify is Sally Walker – and her husband, Moth Winn, had misplaced their residence after she took out a mortgage to repay cash she had been accused of stealing from her earlier employer, Martin Hemmings.In a press release issued earlier in July, Ms Winn stood by the guide’s description of how they got here to lose their home saying the dispute with the Hemmings didn’t lead to her and her husband shedding their residence.Getty ImagesRaynor Winn (proper) whose guide The Salt Path was not too long ago became a movie starring Gillian Anderson (left)Martin Hemmings, who died in 2012, was an property agent and property surveyor from north Wales, and husband to Ros Hemmings.Mrs Hemmings, 74, grew to become associates with Mr Winn once they labored on the similar Nationwide Belief website within the Nineteen Nineties.”I received on extraordinarily properly with him,” mentioned Mrs Hemmings. “He appeared a very nice individual.”Then in 2001, Mr Winn talked about his spouse had misplaced her job at a resort as a bookkeeper.”It coincided with my husband’s bookkeeper retiring so I advised her to my husband,” mentioned Mrs Hemmings.”She got here for an interview, and she or he was the one. She appeared very environment friendly, we appreciated her.”However she mentioned after that her husband seen a change within the enterprise.”Inside a yr or so we weren’t making any cash,” mentioned Mrs Hemmings.Initially they didn’t suspect something.”I didn’t assume there was any purpose for this other than the truth that Martin was garbage at sending out payments,” mentioned Mrs Hemmings.However their daughter Debbie, who was aged round 29 on the time, grew to become emotional as she remembered receiving a distressed name from her father because the monetary strain constructed over quite a few years.”He mentioned: ‘I simply do not know what’s gone improper, I am working each hour God provides me and there is no cash,'” mentioned Debbie Adams, now aged 46.”About 5 days after that first name he rings up and goes, she [Winn] has been nicking cash. I used to be like, ‘dad come on now, no. Absolutely there’s one thing gone improper?’ He mentioned ‘no, we have had a glance and there is cash lacking’.”They claimed a gathering between Mr Hemmings and the financial institution supervisor confirmed £6,000 to £9,000 was lacking. They mentioned Mr Hemmings then went straight to the police and a neighborhood solicitor.Debbie HemmingsA photograph of the Hemmings household with mum Ros and daughter Debbie with father Martin, who died in 2012They mentioned shortly afterwards, Ms Winn visited them at their residence.”She was crying,” mentioned Mrs Hemmings. “She had introduced a cheque I believe it was for £9,000. She mentioned that is all the cash I’ve, I’ve needed to promote a few of my mom’s issues to do that, can we name it quits?”Mrs Hemmings mentioned her husband took the cash on the recommendation of the police who mentioned: “It might be all you get.”However in addition they suggested the couple to begin going again by way of the accounts to test if anything was lacking.She mentioned they went again by way of years of the enterprise’s monetary paperwork.”It was a really upsetting factor to do and it took us weeks and weeks,” mentioned Mrs Hemmings. “However we discovered she had taken about £64,000.”Mrs Hemmings mentioned a number of weeks later they acquired a letter from a solicitor in London providing to pay the cash again and authorized charges which got here to round £90,000.It included an settlement to not pursue felony prices which Mr Hemmings signed.Mrs Hemmings mentioned: “He was eager to do it in a manner, we had no cash and had almost been principally bankrupt. She additionally had younger youngsters, and to have a mom in jail or dealing with a felony cost, he did not need that to occur.”BBC NewsRos and Debbie say they felt it was the proper time to talk out about their experiencesIn a press release launched in July after the Observer article, which included allegations from Mrs Hemmings, Ms Winn acknowledged making “errors” earlier in her profession.She mentioned it had been a pressured time, and though she was questioned by police, she was not charged.”Any errors I made through the years in that workplace, I deeply remorse, and I’m actually sorry,” she mentioned.Ms Winn mentioned the case had been settled between her and her ex-employer on a “non-admissions foundation”, as a result of she “didn’t have the proof required to help what occurred”.She mentioned: “Mr Hemmings was as eager to succeed in a personal decision as I used to be.”BBC Wales put Ms Winn’s assertion to Mrs Hemmings.She responded: “I believe she’s simply attempting to place the very best spin on the query.”The error was that we ever employed her, and the most important mistake my husband made, as a result of clearly I might really useful her in a manner, was that he trusted her.”The Salt Path has offered greater than two million copies since its publication, and Ms Winn has written two sequels, The Wild Silence and Landlines, which additionally concentrate on themes of nature, wild tenting, homelessness and strolling.Mrs Hemmings mentioned she had not learn The Salt Path as a result of she didn’t really feel it will mirror her view on why the couple did the stroll.She added: “I might have stamped on the guide I believe. Simply to gloss over why they ran out of cash to me was surprising.”Her daughter Debbie mentioned: “I do not want in poor health of them. I simply want that they might inform the reality, and the reality must be instructed.”BBC NewsMs Winn and her husband lived in North Wales earlier than strolling The Salt Path In her assertion in July, Ms Winn mentioned: “The Salt Path is about what occurred to Moth and me, after we misplaced our residence and located ourselves homeless on the headlands of the south west.”It is not about each occasion or second in our lives, however fairly a few capsule of time when our lives moved from a spot of full despair to a spot of hope.”Ros and Debbie mentioned that they had no paperwork or contract from the time to again up their claims – though others, like their solicitor concerned within the case, Michael Pressure, have corroborated their claims as a part of the Observer’s investigation.Mrs Hemmings mentioned she was talking out now to provide “a voice” to her late husband.”I can not forgive her for form of destroying my husband’s confidence in individuals, as a result of it did,” she mentioned.”And I believe that is partly why we did not discuss it. He was so embarrassed that this had occurred to his enterprise.”North Wales Police mentioned they have been unable to substantiate or deny any particulars concerning Ms Winn.When approached for remark, Ms Winn’s spokesman referred BBC Information to the assertion Ms Winn made on 9 July.He added: “She could be very grateful for all the type messages of help she has acquired from readers.”Get our flagship publication with all of the headlines you should begin the day. Join right here.