THE devastating story of victims conned by disgraced West Fife funeral director Barry Stevenson-Hamilton is to air on TV.
A host of customers who lost thousands of pounds in fraudulent pre-paid funeral plans will appear on The Big Swindle alongside Sarah Yorke, the employee who first discovered the sick plot.
Barry Stevenson-Hamilton was charged with having formed a scheme to obtain money by fraud, acquiring £130,207 between January 2016 and September 2019.
He was jailed for 33 months last year at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
READ MORE: 'Slap in the face' for victims as Barry Stevenson-Hamilton is jailed for 33 months
Sarah will be telling her side of the story during the second episode of the new series, which starts on this Saturday, May 13.
She told the Press: "I had declined a couple of shows before because they were more about the funeral industry, and I still work in it, but this was about Barry and what he did.
"There were another three of four victims and they gave their stories and I explained how I rumbled him, how I alerted police and the whole story surrounding the whole sorry situation."
The director of Stevenson Funeral Directors Ltd, which had premises in Rosyth, and Funeral (Care) Scotland Ltd, admitted the charge in July 2022 in front of a court full of victims who cheered at his guilty plea.
Stevenson-Hamilton told customers they were buying a pre-paid funeral plan with Avalon Trustee Company Ltd and that the money paid would be held securely by Avalon.
In 2019 Sarah, and a co-worker, found documents that showed customers weren’t registered with Avalon, money wasn’t paid to the company and, as a result, they had not purchased a funeral plan.
Then, in December of last year, Stevenson-Hamilton, also known as Barry Fisher, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court after admitting an offence under the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001.
The charge stated that he acted with intent to deceive at an undisclosed address in Lanarkshire on January 14, 2021, and falsely represented himself as a registered nurse.
He was admonished by the Sheriff.
READ MORE: Disgraced West Fife funeral director admits pretending to be a nurse during pandemic
"Those three years have weighed heavily on me and the victims, he was given 33 months as it wasn't his first offence, but even with that he's been released this month under house arrest and with a curfew," Sarah continued.
"It's infuriating, the time and effort everybody spent, I fought for every victim but the justice system only gave him eight months.
"The whole point of doing the show is to get publicity for Barry, he is a master fraudster, a master scammer.
"The more we can get his face and aliases out there, the less able he is to be able to defraud vulnerable people."
Sarah had previously compared Stevenson-Hamilton to Ted Bundy and has stated that he was a "modern day Frank Abagnale".
READ MORE: Undertaker who turned in 'master conman' almost lost everything
He was found to have scammed more than 60 people after Sarah found folders with copies of funeral plans which should have been sent straight to Avalon and receipts signed by Stevenson-Hamilton.
After leaving the business, Sarah thought she had completely lost the career she spent 10 years building.
"You think you know Barry but you never know Barry," she said.
"It's one of those hurdles in my life you never want to repeat, I thought my career was over and he had taken that from me.
"I try not to let it affect me day-to-day, I truly hope we get as much out there to make sure he can never do it again.
"It's worth it to get it out there, at the end of the day all we've done is give him eight more months to sit and think of some scam."
Filming for the show took place in October of last year and it had been due to release in January, though had to be delayed.
Following Stevenson-Hamilton's guilty plea, several victims came forward in the Press to tell their stories.
READ MORE: 'It makes you angry that he has enjoyed that money that was for our funerals'
Rosyth woman Susan Mitchell told of how she lost £4,000 paid for her mother's funeral while another, Beatrice Russell, described the con-artist as appearing "genuine and friendly" when she purchased a funeral plan from him.
The story will feature on the second episode of The Big Swindle, airing on Quest Red this Saturday, May 20, at 10pm.
It will also available to stream on Discovery plus.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here