A former actress living in a care home had to wear clothes from deceased residents after her friend stole £65,000 from her life savings. Brian Malam had been granted power of attorney over Margaret Wright's finances after she was diagnosed with dementia, but spent years helping himself to cash.
Mrs Wright, who is better known by her stage name Meg Wynn Owen, starred in various well-known TV shows and films including Love Actually, Doctor Who, Under Milk Wood, Pride and Prejudice, and Upstairs Downstairs.
During his sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court, Judge Paul Hobson told Malam that he had not only abused the trust placed in him by virtue of the legal powers he had been granted, but had also "betrayed" his close friend of many years.
Malam had been granted power of attorney over the finances of Margaret Wright - whom he had been friends with for many years after meeting through their work at the BBC - due to her dementia and mental capacity in 2014. As reported by Wales Online, prosecutor Abigail Jackson said Mrs Wright then moved into a care home in Cardiff the following year, where Malam would visit her.
However, his visits became less and less frequent before stopping completely. The court heard that unbeknown to the elderly actress, Malam was taking tens of thousands of pounds from her savings account by way of bank transfers, direct spending, and cash withdrawals.
Miss Jackson said the 60-year-old defendant was supposed to put money into a special account which could be accessed by care home staff to buy essentials for Mrs Wright. However, he failed to do so, and only a handful of payments were ever made.
This left carers with no money to buy clothes for Mrs Wright, meaning she had to be dressed in items left by deceased residents. There were also no funds to pay for a hairdresser, with staff having to cut Mrs Wright's hair instead.
After concerns were raised over her financial situation in October 2014, staff accompanied Mrs Wright to her bank and her statements were examined. When details of Malam's fraud were revealed, Mrs Wright became very upset.
The case was then referred to the Office of the Public Guardian, who launched an investigation into the matter before passing it on to police. Authorities found that Malam had stolen a total of £65,000 from his victim over the course of roughly four years.
He was arrested and admitted spending "tens of thousands of pounds" of Mrs Wright's money in a police interview. However, he claimed that he intended to pay her back.
Malam also told officers that he thought Mrs Wright would want him to have the cash, as she said he would inherit the money when she died. The defendant said he spent the funds on materials for his work as a costume designer.
The prosecutor said the final closing balance of Mrs Wright's main bank account was £1,750 in the red. Another account contained £229, while other accounts contained just pennies. Mrs Wright sadly passed away in June this year.
Brian Malam, of Bradford Street, Grangetown, Cardiff, pleaded guilty to fraud. He has no previous convictions. Andrew Davies, mitigating, said the parties had known each other for decades, and in her latter years Malam had been the only person caring for Mrs Wright.
He said the money taken by the defendant had not been spent on "flash cars or luxury holidays" but mainly to keep his costume design business afloat. The barrister said his client had worked hard all his life, but had started consuming alcohol to excess following the break down of a relationship and "everything disappeared into a miasma of drink".
Judge Paul Hobson said being given power of attorney status was a special legal role which came with responsibilities. He told Malam he had abused the trust placed in him and had "betrayed" his life-long friend. The judge said Malam knew his victim was vulnerable with little or no contact from other friends and family, and that this isolation probably reassured him that he would get away with the fraud.
With a one-third discount for his guilty plea Malam was sentenced to 32 months in jail. He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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