Salt Path scandal deepens: Raynor Winn denies kinfolk’ claims she stole cash from her mom and in-laws – and says she didn’t write letter which stated forging cheques was ‘virtually an dependancy’
Salt Path author Raynor Winn has denied her relatives’ claims that she took money from her mother and elderly in-laws.
The best-selling writer has hit back at accusations that she typed a confessional letter in which she pleaded: ‘Please don’t look any further for the money. I’ve taken it. All of it.’
In an emphatic statement published on her website, Winn strenuously denied she was the author of the bombshell note claimed to have been written a decade ago.
‘I did not steal from family, as others can confirm. Nor have I confessed to doing so and I did not write the letter suggesting I did,’ she said.
The author’s niece, who did not wish to be named, has claimed that a typed and handwritten letters were given to her last year by her mother – Winn’s sister – while she was on her deathbed.
She died of cancer in November 2024.
The details of the letters were revealed today following an investigation by The Observer, ahead of a documentary which airs tomorrow on Sky.
The notes were claimed to have been written by Winn in an attempt to stop her sibling from reporting her to the police.
An investigation by The Observer has claimed that The Salt Path author Raynor Winn (right) admitted in letters to her sister to taking money from her mother and elderly in-laws
In an emphatic statement published on her website, Winn strenuously denied she was the author of the bombshell confessional letter claimed to have been written a decade ago
In one, it is alleged Winn confessed to forging cheques to steal from her property surveyor and estate agent boss Martin Hemming as ‘it became an addiction’.
She is also said to have confessed to stealing £25,000 from her husband Moth’s elderly parents while in a ‘mad panic’ that left them almost penniless and living in a barn for the winter.
The alleged theft took place when Winn was facing eviction from her home in Wales, which is chronicled in her best-seller The Salt Path.
It is claimed in one letter that Winn admitted to taking money from her own mother and ‘any statements she has had over the last 18 months are fake. I forged them’.
One relative told The Observer that Winn’s mother had said all of her money had been taken, but ‘never in a million years did she think that her daughter had it’.
She reportedly apologised and promised to pay the money back before writing: ‘It’s of no consolation to you but this morning, writing this, I feel better than I have for years because I know it’s over.’
Winn and Moth’s families told the newspaper that, as far as they are aware, the money has not been paid back.
Winn vehemently denied the claims and said ‘The Observer and documentary makers continue to spread a false narrative about my life’.
Raynor Winn at home in Cornwall. She has become a huge success since her book’s release, including two more books
Raynor and her husband Moth attend The Lighthouse Cinema for a Gala Screening of The Salt Path on May 6, 2025 in Newquay, Cornwall
‘As with most people’s lives, there will always be someone willing to criticise you, that’s part of life,’ she said.
‘However, it is a great source of sadness that Tortoise Media’s Observer and documentary makers are now seeking to drive a wedge between our family members. The family have always been able to share their concerns privately, and they still can.
‘I did not steal from family, as others can confirm. Nor have I confessed to doing so and I did not write the letter suggesting I did.’
Winn has received backlash following a series of revelations about her 2018 memoir – which has been accused of not being as ‘unflinchingly honest’ as initially billed.
She has been accused of omitting key elements of her story in her account of losing her home before embarking on a trek of the South West Coast Path.
In the book, Winn said she and her husband Moth lost a fortune – and their home in Wales – due to a bad investment in a friend’s business.
But an investigation carried out by The Observer uncovered allegations she had in fact embezzled £64,000 from her former employer and was allegedly arrested.
A loan was then allegedly taken out to avoid prosecution and when this was not paid their home was sold, it has been claimed.
Moth has been living with rare neurological condition corticobasal degeneration (CBD) for 18 years with no apparent visible symptoms that medical experts claim would require round-the-clock care within 12 years.
In July, Winn published two letters from a consultant neurologist – with her former landscape gardener husband’s permission – dated 2019 and 2025 that showed Moth had been treated for CBD.
She has maintained the account in The Salt Path is accurate and described the allegations against her as ‘grotesquely unfair’ and ‘misleading’.
‘Moth was diagnosed with CBD, now known as CBS, which is an Atypical Parkinsonism – this is a fact,’ she said today following the latest allegations.
‘We were homeless and we lost our house because of a financial dispute with a lifelong friend, as described in the book.
‘To everyone who has read and loved my books, thank you. Nothing has changed. The Salt Path remains my honest recollection of the time when we lost our house and found hope on the Coast Path.
‘Except in limited cases, where names of people or details of places and events were changed to protect privacy, as explained at the front of every copy.
‘Thank you to the thousands who have written offering love and support, it has meant so much to us.’
