There’s a story in – yes, you’ve guessed it right again – the Bristol Post, in large print and with a headline to really make us all angry. It reads: ‘Beggar who claimed to be homeless ex-Para had a flat around the corner – and had never been in Army.’ A recovering drug addict and alcoholic called Stewart Fenton (39) was prosecuted for ‘fraud by false representation’ by begging for money whilst pretending to be a homeless ex Para. It turned out he lived on benefits in a bedsit.
The presiding magistrate Anna Blackmore told Fenton: “You used emotional blackmail for your own personal gain. I sentence you to death by hanging.” The courtroom exploded into riotous applause as Ms Blackmore put on her cap. “Send him to the gallows.” All right, I made up the last bit about Mr Fenton being sent to the gallows, but doubtless the Bristol Post’s top journalist ‘The Bristol Post’ (he really gets about, doesn’t he?) would have preferred it if he had been.
I’ll bet Mr Fenton’s bedsit was probably not comparable to the accommodation you might find in, say Princess Victoria Street in Clifton. I doubt whether Mr Fenton enjoyed fine dining, regardless of his begging activities. He was a drug addict, an alcoholic. These are both clues as to where his ill gotten gains were going. This was probably not a luxurious lifestyle with a long term future.
A former Grenadier guard, one Nicholas Hayman, felt sorry for Mr Fenton and gave him £25 and took the story to a national news agency to publicise Mr Fenton’s plight.
Then Mr Hayman found out that Mr Fenton had never been in the armed services. He said: “I feel that Mr Fenton not only duped me but other members of the public. The only reason I can see he did it was for money. He was quite clever in researching the Seventh Parachute Regiment and Operation Telic. He was a fraudster and he has brought the good name of the Army into disrepute, and taken away the general public sympathy for homeless ex-servicemen. He should be ashamed of what he has done.”
I have no wish to disparage Mr Hayman’s good name, but hang on a minute. Of course, Mr Fenton duped people. Of course, he only did it for the money. (He was a drug addict and alcoholic. There’s a bit of a clue.) And last and very much worst “he was a fraudster who brought the good name of the Army into disrepute, and taken away general public sympathy for homeless ex-servicemen. He should be ashamed of what he has done.” Yes, he was a fraudster, but at a very low level. We are not talking Nick Leeson, Robert Maxwell or any of those thieving bankers from the late 2000s who brought the world economy to its knees. He has patently NOT brought the good name of the Army into disrepute. I think it is a national disgrace and a national scandal that there are so many ex-servicemen on the streets. Mr Fenton’s actions were wrong, but they do nothing to change my anger that we still allow people who served this country with distinction rot on the streets. That’s the fault of politicians, not people like Mr Fenton. And he probably is ashamed. The Post says he is ‘a dad of two’, but he lives alone in a bedsit. He has addictions, he felt the only way he could make some money was to beg. He’s not going to feel proud of that, is he? Put yourself in his shoes, for God’s sake. An angel he might not be, but he’s a human being who made a bad choice. Hands up anyone who never did that?
The wheels of justice started turning at full speed today when Mr Fenton was given a criminal record. A 16 week prison sentence, albeit suspended, a 16 week night curfew; plus he was ordered to pay £25 compensation to Mr Hayman, £85 in court costs and an £80 victim surcharge, whatever that is. That, for a man in pretty desperate circumstances, is a heavy price to pay and now that he has that criminal record, he will find it hard to work again for the foreseeable future.
Oh yes, he did wrong. He committed a very crime and has now been punished in full glare of a pompous local media and doubtless the vermin of the national press will pile in on Mr Fenton on the next few days. That will help him return to a better place, no doubt. Still, it’s a good story, isn’t it?
I’m not condoning Mr Fenton, I’m really not. He’s done something he should not have done. I know that we cannot always excuse wrongdoing because of extenuating circumstances, but come on. My guess is that the man’s life was a mess and now it’s an even bigger mess. I really hope he makes a full recovery from the demons that appear to have inflicted a miserable existence on this wretched man and that our law, order and justice establishments can seek to find better and more proportionate ways to deal with crime.
To repeat what the magistrate Anna Blackmore told Mr Fenton: “You used emotional blackmail for your own personal gain,” as if he was some kind of criminal mastermind, setting himself up for a life of luxury in the Cayman Islands, rather than a small bedsit in Weston. This was minor, petty crime and I suppose if we are imposing zero tolerance, these things will happen. It would be nice if such zero tolerance was applied to the real criminals in our society. But they don’t make such good stories, do they?
