Latest news with #DebbieAdams
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Moment my father claimed Salt Path author Raynor Win was 'nicking money' - and it added up to £64,000
The daughter of a man who claimed The Salt Path author Raynor Winn stole thousands of pounds from his business has broken down recalling the moment her late father realised he wouldn't be able to pay his employees after vast sums of his had money disappeared. In a new interview with BBC News Waleshttps:// Debbie Adams, 46, is seen putting her head in her hands and wiping away tears as she recounts how her father, an estate agent and property surveyor who died in 2012, told her Raynor Winn had 'been nicking money'. Adams has been speaking out about the impact Winn, who became an overnight millionaire thanks to the success of her 2018 book - and just-released film starring Gillian Anderson - about tracing the South West Coastal Path, had on her late father Martin Hemmings. She said he was 'absolutely shot' when he realised he wouldn't be able to pay the women who worked for him. An investigation by The Observer earlier this month suggested Winn's story about her life in The Salt Path was misleading. The publication claimed that Raynor and her husband Moth Winn, real names Sally and Tim Walker, lost their money after failing to pay money they had been accused of stealing from Hemmings. In the emotional BBC News interview, Adams told the broadcaster she had been left with a 'feeling of sickness to the pit of your stomach' when her father revealed his hard-earned money was nowhere to be seen. She explained: 'I had a phone call from Dad saying that he was worried about the business. He told her: 'I just don't know what's gone wrong, I'm working every hour God gives me and there's no money.' Adams, who was 29 at the time and about to get married, continued: 'About five days after that first call he rings up and goes, she [Winn] has been nicking money. 'I was like, "Dad, come on now, no. Surely there's something gone wrong?" He said "no, we've had a look and there's money missing"'. The couple had become friends with the husband of Winn, Moth Winn, otherwise known as Tim Walker, when the pair worked together in the 1990s. In 2001, Moth mentioned his wife had lost her job as a bookkeeper at a hotel and Martin Hemmings' wife Ros suggested to her husband they hire Raynor for their business. However, a year later the couple noticed that they were no longer 'making any money'. Hemming initially believed that between £6,000 and £9,000 had been taken and decided to contact both the police and a solicitor about the sums. Adams says that when The Salt Path author realised an investigation might happen, she turned up 'crying' at the family home with a cheque for £9,000, claiming it was 'all the money I have' and saying she'd had to sell family possessions to raise it. After accepting the cheque on police advice, Hemmings went back through his accounts more thoroughly and to his horror estimated his business was actually £64,000 down. BBC News also interviewed Hemming's wife Ros, who said she was speaking out to give a voice to her late husband. She revealed the couple recieved a letter from a solicitor in London offering to pay back the money and legal fees totalling around £90,000. The offer included an agreement not to press criminal charges against Raynor Winn. Mrs Hemmings said her husband signed the agreement, not wanting to put a mother through a criminal trial. Mrs Hemmings said: 'The mistake was that we ever employed her, and the biggest mistake my husband made, because obviously I'd recommended her in a way, was that he trusted her.' 'I did not think there was any reason for this aside from the fact that Martin was rubbish at sending out bills.' She added: 'I can't forgive her for sort of destroying my husband's confidence in people, because it did. The Hemmings claim they agreed not to press charges against Raynor Winn, after agreeing she would pay back the money. The new film adaptation of Winn's book follows the story of a couple who lose their home and later discover the husband has been diagnosed with a terminal illness as they embark on a year long coastal trek In a statement following The Observer investigation, Raynor Winn said: 'The dispute with Martin Hemmings, referred to in the Observer by his wife, is not the court case in The Salt Path. 'Nor did it result in us losing our home. Mr Hemmings is not Cooper. Mrs Hemmings is not in the book, nor is she a relative of someone who is. 'I worked for Martin Hemmings in the years before the economic crash of 2008. For me it was a pressured time. 'It was also a time when mistakes were being made in the business. Any mistakes I made during the years in that office, I deeply regret, and I am truly sorry.' Mrs Hemmings said she had not read The Salt Path, which sold more than two million copies, because she felt it would not reflect her view on why the couple embarked on their walk. Speaking to the MailOnline from her remote Welsh cottage last week, Debbie Adams said: 'He felt he was ripped off by her, which he was. 'My mum is still angry and frustrated by it as my dad was upset about it. He felt really let down by it all. 'But I don't feel angry any more as I have parked it. But I'm not sure my mum has.' A close friend of her mother Ros Hemmings told MailOnline that she and her late husband were 'saddened and very frustrated' that Winn had escaped any punishment for her alleged theft. On the other hand, at least they got the money back, said the friend. 'If things had gone differently, and Walker had not been able to come up with the money then she may have been prosecuted, probably would not have gone to jail and ended up doing community service. 'Then she'd have been repaying their money at some paltry rate such as £5 a week for the rest of her life. 'So although it wasn't a perfect solution, it was probably better than the alternative.' Following The Observer investigation, angry readers began demanding refunds for The Salt Path after Winn was accused of lying about the 'true story'. The writer has been accused of omitting key elements of her story in her account of losing her home before embarking on a mammoth trek of the 630-mile South West Coast Path. More than two million people have read her popular 2018 memoir but the author is now facing claims the story may not be as 'unflinchingly honest' as initially billed. Readers are now flooding the Amazon book page with one-star reviews, saying they are returning their books for refunds following a newspaper's investigation. One said they felt 'completely conned' and 'seriously disappointed'. Another wrote: 'I want a refund of this and the two sequels... I don't want to read them anymore.' And a third said: 'After reading the investigation in The Observer newspaper and learning the truth I am glad I was able to return it for a refund.' Following an investigation into their backgrounds, the publication said that The Salt Path's protagonists, Winn and her husband, Moth, previously went by their less flamboyant legal names, Sally and Tim Walker. And rather than being forced out of their home in rural Wales when an investment in a childhood friend's business went awry, as the book suggested, it is alleged that the property was repossessed after Winn stole tens of thousands of pounds from a former employer and was arrested. Questions have also been raised about Moth's debilitating illness, corticobasal degeneration [CBD], a rare neurological condition in the same family as Parkinson's disease, which is central to the book. Life expectancy after diagnosis is around six to eight years, according to the NHS – however Moth has been living with the condition for 18 years with no apparent visible symptoms. As part of The Observer's investigation, a number of neurologists specialising in CBD were contacted, with one telling the newspaper that his history with the illness 'does not pass the sniff test'. Released in 2018, The Salt Path details the Winns' decision to embark on the South West Coast Path when they lose their home after investing a 'substantial sum' into a friend's business which ultimately failed. In the book, Winn writes: 'We lost. Lost the case. Lost the house.' The memoir then describes their subsequent 630-mile walk to salvation, wild camping en route and living on around £40 per week, and is described as a 'life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world'. It prompted two sequels and the film adaptation, which was released in May, starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, who was recently in HBO's The White Lotus. The Winns posed for photographs alongside the actors on the red carpet in London at the film's premiere.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Telegraph
‘Salt Path author stole £64,000 from my father – the truth needs to be told'
A woman who claimed the author of The Salt Path stole £64,000 from her parent's business has said 'the truth needs to be told'. Debbie Adams and her mother Ros Hemmings alleged Raynor Winn stole about £64,000 while working for the family's property business. It is one of several allegations that have cast doubt on the accuracy of Winn's best-selling memoir. The Salt Path, which tells the story of the author and her husband, Moth, walking the 630-mile coastal path, claimed the couple made the trek after losing their home in north Wales following a poor investment in a friend's business. However, an investigation by The Observer claimed she actually lost the property after stealing from her former employers, the Hemmings family. The alleged theft is said to have occurred while she worked part-time as a bookkeeper for the family's estate agency and property surveyor in Pwllheli, north Wales, from the early 2000s. Winn has called The Observer report 'highly misleading' but admitted she 'deeply regrets' certain 'mistakes' in her past. In her first public comments, Ms Adams, 46, described how the alleged theft affected her father, Martin Hemmings, who died in 2012. She recalled getting a phone call from him, when she was aged about 29, in which he told her that money was missing from the business's accounts. She told the BBC: 'I had a phone call from dad saying he was worried about the business. [He said] 'I don't know what's gone wrong, there's no money in the account, I don't know what to do.' 'He said: 'I just don't know what's gone wrong, I'm working every hour God gives me and there's no money'. 'About five days later he rings up and goes, she [Winn] has been nicking money. I was like, 'dad come on now, no. Surely there's something gone wrong?' He said 'no, we've had a look and there's money missing'.' It is claimed that Mr Hemmings had noticed Winn failing to deposit a large sum of money in 2008, prompting him to conduct an audit and find that around £9,000 was missing from the previous few months. Winn is said to have paid him back after arriving at the couple's house with a cheque for £9,000. However, after revisiting years of the business's financial paperwork, Mr Hemmings allegedly discovered she had stolen £64,000. It has been claimed that, to avoid criminal prosecution, Winn allegedly borrowed £100,000, secured against their house, and repaid the money to the couple. This loan was later called in and their house was repossessed, it has been claimed. The Hemmings family have said they were left frustrated by Winn's subsequent rise to fame. The Salt Path spent nearly two years on The Sunday Times bestseller list after it was published in 2018, and its film adaptation, starring Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson, was released in May. Ms Adams said: 'I don't wish ill of them. I just wish that they would tell the truth, and the truth needs to be told.' Her mother, who has not read the book, added: 'I'd have stamped on the book I think. Just to gloss over why they ran out of money to me was shocking.' Winn has issued a lengthy statement responding to the claims and said she was receiving legal advice. She wrote: 'I worked for Martin Hemmings in the years before the economic crash of 2008. For me, it was a pressured time. It was also a time when mistakes were being made in the business. 'Any mistakes I made during the years in that office, I deeply regret, and I am truly sorry. 'Mr Hemmings made an allegation against me to the police, accusing me of taking money from the company. I was questioned, I was not charged, nor did I face criminal sanctions. 'I reached a settlement with Martin Hemmings because I did not have the evidence required to support what happened. The terms of the settlement were willingly agreed by both parties.' The Observer report also claimed that Winn and her husband owned a house in France and their real names are Sally and Tim Walker. It also suggested that Moth did not suffer from corticobasal degeneration (CBD), which is central to the events in the memoir.
Auto Blog
07-06-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
You Can't Skip the Latest Step in Florida's Driver's License Process
Young Florida drivers seeking a permit have a new hoop to jump through Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a new law requiring anyone at least 15 years old to complete a driver's education course to receive a learner's permit. Students had previously faced less stringent mandates by only needing to complete traffic law and substance abuse education classes. Florida's new law, taking effect July 1, also requires teens seeking a license to receive parental approval, complete a Traffic Law and Substance Abuse Education course, and pass a vision and hearing test along with a written driver's exam, according to NBC. Drivers can apply for a license after driving with a permit for one year or when reaching 18, whichever comes first, if they receive no moving violations and log 50 hours of driving experience with an adult 21 or older, 10 hours of which must be at night. 0:08 / 0:09 Thinking about buying a Toyota RAV4? These 5 rivals might change your mind Watch More Florida surf license plate — Source: Getty Some schools, including Florida Virtual, already offer driver education for permits, but many dialed back the program years ago to save money, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Debbie Adams, Principal of Driver's Education at Florida Virtual School, said: 'The legislators really got this right. They really took the time talking with each other and [are] really taking a look at the dangers that we are facing in the state of Florida along our roads,' The Mirror US reports. Many Florida high schools offer driver's education, but there isn't enough space for every student. Florida Virtual School offers driver's education for free and is the state's largest driver's education provider, with 55,000 enrolled students, many of whom can't find a spot in their local school. Defensive driving and hazard prevention are among the program's core skills. Florida teen driver crashes in recent years by the numbers In May 2024, 205,000 Florida teens aged 15-19 were driving with a learner's permit, according to The Florida Teen Safe Driving Coalition. In 2022, Florida teen drivers were involved in 56,091 crashes, resulting in 345 fatalities and 1,945 serious injuries. Nationally, teen drivers in 2022 were involved in 1,477,694 crashes, resulting in 7,639 deaths and 439,271 serious injuries. The Florida Teen Safe Driving Coalition cites an NHTSA study highlighting how teens are two and a half times more likely to engage in potentially risky behavior when driving with another teenager vs. alone, and this likelihood increases to three times with multiple teen passengers. Seat belts weren't worn in one-third of the fatalities and serious injuries involving these drivers. In 2023, Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) noted a 1.93% decline in 15-19-year-old driver crashes in the state but a 0.92% increase in this age group's traffic fatalities. Incapacitating injuries for 15-19-year-old drivers decreased 8.05%, and other injuries went down 2.92%. Autoblog Newsletter Autoblog brings you car news; expert reviews and exciting pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, too. Sign up or sign in with Google Facebook Microsoft Apple By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. Florida license plate — Source: Getty Images Final thoughts While some states, such as Kentucky, have been loosening certain requirements for young drivers, the general trend in recent years has been toward stricter laws. On March 11, a new Kentucky law lowered the state's age to obtain a learner's permit from 16 to 15. Additionally, young Kentucky drivers only need to hold a permit for six months before applying for an intermediate license. However, since February, New Jersey has implemented a 50-hour supervised driving requirement for permit holders until age 21, after previously having no policy. North Carolina is even stricter with a 60-hour supervised driving requirement. Florida's law, which took effect on July 1, is the most recent example of the U.S. states tightening young driver laws. About the Author Cody Carlson View Profile
Miami Herald
07-06-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
You Can't Skip the Latest Step in Florida's Driver's License Process
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a new law requiring anyone at least 15 years old to complete a driver's education course to receive a learner's permit. Students had previously faced less stringent mandates by only needing to complete traffic law and substance abuse education classes. Florida's new law, taking effect July 1, also requires teens seeking a license to receive parental approval, complete a Traffic Law and Substance Abuse Education course, and pass a vision and hearing test along with a written driver's exam, according to NBC. Drivers can apply for a license after driving with a permit for one year or when reaching 18, whichever comes first, if they receive no moving violations and log 50 hours of driving experience with an adult 21 or older, 10 hours of which must be at night. Some schools, including Florida Virtual, already offer driver education for permits, but many dialed back the program years ago to save money, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Debbie Adams, Principal of Driver's Education at Florida Virtual School, said: "The legislators really got this right. They really took the time talking with each other and [are] really taking a look at the dangers that we are facing in the state of Florida along our roads," The Mirror US reports. Many Florida high schools offer driver's education, but there isn't enough space for every student. Florida Virtual School offers driver's education for free and is the state's largest driver's education provider, with 55,000 enrolled students, many of whom can't find a spot in their local school. Defensive driving and hazard prevention are among the program's core skills. In May 2024, 205,000 Florida teens aged 15-19 were driving with a learner's permit, according to The Florida Teen Safe Driving Coalition. In 2022, Florida teen drivers were involved in 56,091 crashes, resulting in 345 fatalities and 1,945 serious injuries. Nationally, teen drivers in 2022 were involved in 1,477,694 crashes, resulting in 7,639 deaths and 439,271 serious injuries. The Florida Teen Safe Driving Coalition cites an NHTSA study highlighting how teens are two and a half times more likely to engage in potentially risky behavior when driving with another teenager vs. alone, and this likelihood increases to three times with multiple teen passengers. Seat belts weren't worn in one-third of the fatalities and serious injuries involving these drivers. In 2023, Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) noted a 1.93% decline in 15-19-year-old driver crashes in the state but a 0.92% increase in this age group's traffic fatalities. Incapacitating injuries for 15-19-year-old drivers decreased 8.05%, and other injuries went down 2.92%. While some states, such as Kentucky, have been loosening certain requirements for young drivers, the general trend in recent years has been toward stricter laws. On March 11, a new Kentucky law lowered the state's age to obtain a learner's permit from 16 to 15. Additionally, young Kentucky drivers only need to hold a permit for six months before applying for an intermediate license. However, since February, New Jersey has implemented a 50-hour supervised driving requirement for permit holders until age 21, after previously having no policy. North Carolina is even stricter with a 60-hour supervised driving requirement. Florida's law, which took effect on July 1, is the most recent example of the U.S. states tightening young driver laws. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Irish Examiner
02-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
'No faith in the system' as mother waits year for epilepsy drug inquiry
Debbie Adams has been waiting a year to address an inquiry into the prescribing of epilepsy medicine containing Valproate to pregnant women. Her daughters, aged 13 and 11, were diagnosed with Fetal Valproate Syndrome (FVS) in 2020. This came after years of diagnosis for individual symptoms. Their youngest daughter also had double surgery for hip dysplasia at Temple Street Hospital. A letter advising that she needs a review as part of investigations into these surgeries has only added to the worries for Debbie and her husband. Last June, an inquiry was launched into the prescribing of valproate, which can cause serious birth defects and development disorders. Families were told the inquiry would begin "within weeks" but there is still no sign of it starting. Debbie chose not to attend the launch event. 'I wanted to get excited but the pessimistic side of me said 'how long are we going to be waiting?' and that's probably why I didn't go," she said. One year on, she is just tired. 'I've no faith in the system,' she said. This should not have happened. This has changed the trajectory of our family's life. She wants answers: why does she have a wall-planner in the kitchen covered with therapy appointments? 'The children have grown up like this and they think everybody's life is like this. We had different dreams for them,' she said, tearfully. The HSE now advises if a woman or girl becomes pregnant while taking valproate (brand name Epilim), their baby is at risk of serious birth defects and developmental and learning disorders. Debbie, who has been taking Epilim to control her epilepsy seizures, recalled speaking with her neurologist when pregnant with Isobelle. Debbie Adams took Epilim to control her epilepsy seizures. Picture: Moya Nolan 'I was warned about spina bifida and cleft lip and palate; they were the two things that I was aware of,' she said. She was relieved early scans showed no signs of these but does not recall discussion of wider risks under Fetal Valproate Syndrome (FVS). Isobelle and her sister Isla, who uses a mobility scooter, faced similar challenges as babies. 'My youngest was showing all the same delays — not crawling, not walking, not speaking, and I said this can't be normal to happen twice in the one house,' she said. She was reassured during a neurology appointment about any potential links to her medication. But soon afterwards, while in Portugal at a family wedding, she saw a report from the British parliament on Sky News. Devastating information They were talking about FVS, and she recalls racing out to find her husband to share the devastating information. Returning home, they met up with Karen Keely, founder of patient group OACS Ireland, which represents more than 130 families. 'It's a horrible reality,' she told the Irish Examiner,sitting in Karen's kitchen. 'You live in fear for them [the children] for when you're gone.' She pointed out that despite pledges to support affected families, they still had to battle long waiting lists and delays for therapies. She is aware of recent High Court cases taken by other families struggling for answers. 'For me that was like validation, it's happened, acknowledgement somewhere has taken place,' she said. Ms Keely said families feel "absolutely disgusted' by the delays to the inquiry. She said people want 'acknowledgement this has happened; harm has happened'. The Department of Health said when work on data protection issues are finished, 'it is anticipated that the public-facing elements of the inquiry will commence shortly thereafter". No definitive timeframe was given.
