A homeless man has described the ‘gut-wrenching’ moment he found out his life-changing inheritance had been stolen by a charity worker who had promised to look after it.
Paul Atherton, 56, entrusted £23,249, which was left to him by his late mother, to Nichola Dame Hartwell, the director of ‘Mr and Miss Black and Beautiful’ – a community focused non-profit social enterprise.
Despite vowing to look after the amount in a ‘dormant’ account, Hartwell, 45, of Lambeth, instead used the money for day-to-day expenses until the balance was reduced to just £6.
The social justice entrepreneur spent years fighting the case, claiming that she always intended to repay Mr Atherton.
But in May she was convicted of two counts of theft and sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.
Speaking for the first time after the betrayal Mr Atherton told MailOnline of Hartwell’s ‘inconceivable’ act of cruelty.
He said: ‘It is gut-wrenching, it’s inconceivable. This was a woman who helped bathe me while I was homeless in a wheelchair. I had helped bail her out in various situations. We were good friends.
‘It was only when her bank statements came through in police investigations that I found out she had been spending the money.’
Paul Atherton, pictured, had a life-changing amount of inheritance money stolen by a charity worker
Mr Atherton entrusted £23,249 to Nichola Dame Hartwell, the director of ‘Mr and Miss Black and Beautiful’ – a community focused non-profit social enterprise
Hartwell (pictured), stole her lodger’s £23,000 inheritance that had been left to him by his mother
Mr Atherton told how he has been homeless since 2009 after financial problems saw him lose his home.
‘I was living in friend’s cars, I was sofa hopping,’ he added.
‘I lived in my own car for two years before the police mistakenly took that away and crushed it. I also have quite regularly been sleeping on the chairs in Gatwick Airport.’
He was diagnosed with chronic fatigue illness at the age of 20 which has made him unable to hold a job for longer than two years.
‘When I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue illness I was put in hospital at first, then put into a homeless hospital. I was then ejected from a homeless hostel because my benefits weren’t being paid.
‘I was in a wheelchair for 18 months at one point. That was when I first met Nichola. We became very good friends for five years before the issue with the inheritance came up.’
Following the death of his mother, Mr Atherton did not have or want a bank account to put his inheritance into so he arranged for it to be transferred to Hartwell’s ‘dormant account’ without any written contract or agreement.
‘She told me she had this account she hadn’t used in years and I could leave it in there,’ he said.
‘The money was meant to go towards my son when he was 18. It was the only thing I could pass on to him. So, when he was nearing that age, I asked Nichola to transfer over the money.
‘At first she told me that she had loaned it to someone and she was being extremely cagey. I thought she had been bullied into sending the money to someone in her family.
‘I then said that I’m going to have to report this to the police because I’m concerned about your welfare. If somebody has taken this money from you they have no right to.
‘I just could not understand it, especially when she claimed all the money had gone when there was still some money left in the account.
‘She had spent time with my kid since he was six or seven and she knew that money was for him, she was depriving money from a child.
Despite vowing to look Mr Atherton’s inheritance in a ‘dormant’ account, Hartwell instead used the money for day-to-day expenses until the balance was reduced to just £6
Hartwell was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for eighteen months and must complete 120 hours community service work
The charity worker is the director of ‘Mr and Miss Black and Beautiful’, a ‘community focused non-profit social enterprise’ aimed at assisting the career prospects of the young and underprivileged
‘And to make matters worse, nobody seems to know what’s going on now. There’s been utter incompetence during the court trials with how long this has taken to get a verdict.
‘In court she was talking about IVF treatment, that costs money. Where does that money come from?’
Discussing his living circumstances today, Mr Atherton explained: ‘I currently live day to day wherever I can find a bed, I still often sleep in Gatwick Airport.
‘I also regularly go three to four days a week without food every week. I don’t know when I’m going to get the money back
‘It has caused an unbelievable amount of turmoil in my life and my son’s life who’s mental health has deteriorated as a result. This money would have helped appease that considerably.
‘The money which was left to me was meant to go all towards my son. It was the only thing I was able to actually give him since I was homeless and couldn’t pass on a house.’
Speaking at an Inner London Crown Court trial earlier this year, recorder Leo Seelig told a tearful Hartwell, who was sent to prison in the nineties for similar offences, that she ‘breached’ Mr Atherton’s trust.
‘He trusted you to safeguard his inheritance and you stole it,’ he said. ‘It must have been painful for him that you used that money as your own.’
Hartwell was officially convicted of two counts of theft between July 19, 2015 and March 11, 2019 and was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for eighteen months.
She must also complete 120 hours community service work, plus fifteen days of a rehabilitation activity.
Speaking for the first time after the betrayal, Mr Atherton has said Athwell’s act of cruelty is ‘inconceivable’
Today Mr Atherton says he sleeps wherever he can find a bed and he often stays at Gatwick Airport overnight
Hartwell, a Social & Policy graduate from South Bank university, was described as having a ‘long term’ friendship with Mr Atherton, who had stayed at her address on different occasions when he was homeless.
She told the court: ‘It was not malicious or calculated. It was for living costs, for food and items for my accuser, I remain innocent in this instance.
‘I felt I had borrowed the monies and I was always going to pay it back.’
Hartwell continues to maintain her innocence and is appealing the conviction at the High Court, insisting Mr Atherton was impossible to find to repay the money.
She told the court a prison sentence would destroy her plans for motherhood and interrupt her private fertility medical treatment as well as the care she provides to her 94 year-old grandmother.
‘The money stolen was of substantial value to Mr Atherton and there was financial harm as a result of the loss of that money and emotional distress to him and, no doubt, his son,’ said Recorder Seelig.
‘You continue to deny these offences, but I must do justice to the jury’s decision,’ he told Hartwell. ‘You agreed to hold this money in one of your bank accounts on his behalf.
‘At some point you decided you could treat the money as your own. If you did borrow it with the intention to repay you have not done so.’
None of the money has been repaid by Hartwell, who will now be subject to a Proceeds of Crime Act investigation in an attempt to identify any of her assets.
Ms Hartwell did not respond to a request to comment.