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Daily Mail
5 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.
Daily Mail
18-07-2025
- Daily Mail
'Salt Path author destroyed my husband's confidence in people': Widow hits out at best-selling writer who she says stole £64,000 from family business
A widow who claims The Salt Path author Raynor Winn stole thousands of pounds from her family business has said that it destroyed her late husband's confidence in people. Ros Hemmings and her daughter Debbie have spoken out about Ms Winn, who worked for their property business in the early 2000s as a bookkeeper. They claim she stole around £64,000 from the family business. Ms Winn rose to fame in 2018 after her book The Salt Path became a bestseller - telling the story of a couple who decide to walk the 630-mile South West Coast Path after losing their home in following a business deal. The success of the book led to a film being created, starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs. However earlier this month an investigation by The Observer suggested Winn's story about her life in The Salt Path was misleading. The Observer 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 Martin Hemmings, husband of Ros. In an interview with BBC News, Ms Hemmings said she was speaking out to give a voice to her late husband She said: 'I can't forgive her for sort of destroying my husband's confidence in people, because it did. Mr Hemmings died in 2012, having worked as an estate agent and property surveyor. Mrs Hemmings became friends with Mr Winn when the pair worked together in the 1990s. In 2001, Mr Winn mentioned his wife had lost her job as a bookkeeper at a hotel and Mrs Hemmings suggested to her husband to hire Raynor for their business. However, a year later the couple noticed that they were no longer 'making any money'. Their daughter Debbie who was 29 at the time, became emotional as she remembered receiving a distressed call from her father as the financial pressure built over a number of years. 'He said: 'I just don't know what's gone wrong, I'm working every hour God gives me and there's no money,'' said Debbie Adams, now 46. Mr Hemmings visited a bank manager who showed him that between £6,000 and £9,000 was missing. He then went to the police and a local solicitor. Ms Winn then visited them at their home with a cheque for £9,000, allegedly telling them 'it was all the money I have'. Mr Hemmings was advised to take the money by police who said it may be all he would be able to get back. They were also told to check the accounts to see if any more was missing. Mrs Hemmings said: 'It was a very upsetting thing to do and it took us weeks and weeks, but we found she had taken about £64,000.' Some weeks later Mrs Hemmings said they 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.' 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 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 - real name Sally Walker - 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.'
Daily Mail
14-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE My father was defrauded out of £64k by The Salt Path author Raynor Winn, it destroyed him and he never fully recovered from the heartbreaking loss
The family of the businessman who Salt Path writer Raynor Winn allegedly stole £64,000 from have reacted furiously to her claim that it was just a mistake. Scandal-hit Winn has admitted she has 'deep regret' over mistakes made that led to allegations of the embezzlement from Martin Hemmings' business and her arrest. Mr Hemmings died before details of the missing money ever became public - and today friends of his widow said that the episode had 'destroyed him' while his daughter claimed he felt 'ripped off' and 'let down' by the best-selling author. Winn claimed she was working during a 'pressured time' when errors were being made across Mr Hemmings' estate agency business. She has denied allegations the financial dispute with ex-boss Mr Hemmings, who has since died, had any relation to the story told in The Salt Path. It follows days of backlash against Winn's 2018 memoir - which has been accused of not being as 'unflinchingly honest' as initially billed. Speaking from her remote Welsh cottage, Mr Hemmings' daughter Debbie 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 - real name Sally Walker - 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.' Winn has been accused of omitting key elements of her story in her account of losing her home before embarking on a 630-mile trek of the South West Coast Path. In the book, Winn said she and her husband Moth lost a fortune - and their 17th century farmhouse in Pwllheli, 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 Mr Hemmings' estate agents and was allegedly later 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. Mr Hemmings' wife Ros told The Observer that the alleged embezzlement devastated her late husband. She said: 'It absolutely destroyed him because he was a very trusting, kind person.' Winn herself said in a statement: '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.' The author also said she had been left 'devastated' by accusations her husband's illness was fabricated. The Salt Path tells the story of how Moth was diagnosed with the terminal condition corticobasal degeneration (CBD), just after they had been made homeless. Questions have also been raised about Moth's debilitating illness - a rare neurological condition in the same family as Parkinson's disease, which is central to the book. The life expectancy for sufferers 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. Following an investigation into their backgrounds, The Observer said that Winn and 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 Mr Hemmings. When the couple failed to repay a loan taken out with a relative to repay the stolen money - agreed on terms that the police would not be further involved - they lost their home, it is claimed. 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 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 The X Files' Anderson and Isaacs, who recently starred 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.
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The Salt Path author Raynor Winn ADMITS 'deep regret' over mistakes relating to embezzlement allegations - but says she is 'devastated' by accusations her husband Moth's illness is fabricated after ba
The Salt Path author Raynor Winn has admitted she has 'deep regret' over mistakes made that led to allegations she embezzled £64,000 from a former employer. In a bombshell statement, the best-selling writer claimed she was working during a 'pressured time' when errors were being made across the business. Winn, however, denied allegations the financial dispute with ex-boss Martin Hemmings had any relation to the story told in The Salt Path. She claimed the 'bad investment' with a lifetime friend that prompted the couple to lose their home related to an entirely separate legal case. It follows days of backlash against Winn's 2018 memoir - which has been accused of not being as 'unflinchingly honest' as initially billed. Nevertheless Winn has maintained the account given The Salt Path is accurate and described the allegations against her as 'grotesquely unfair' and 'misleading'. The author, who has sold more than two million copies of her book, also said today she had been left 'devastated' by accusations her husband's illness was fabricated. 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. Following an investigation into their backgrounds, The Observer said that The Salt Path's protagonists, Raynor Winn (right) and her husband, Moth Winn (left), could have misled fans The Winns with Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, the stars of the recent film adaptation. It has been claimed that the couple may have made millions from the book and movie '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.' To combat the backlash against Moth's illness, Raynor shared images of three clinic letters, which she claims proves he has been receiving treatment for years. 'With Moth's permission, and on the advice of his neurologist, I am releasing excerpts from three clinic letters, showing he is treated for CBD/S and has been for many years,' the author wrote on her Instagram account. 'This is deeply personal information that no-one should ever be forced to share, but we feel we have no choice in the face of this unbelievably hurtful false narrative,' she added. Winn 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 a 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 Winn has been living with an illness for 18 years with no apparent visible symptoms that medical experts claim would require round-the-clock care within 12 years. Raynor Winn at home in Cornwall. She has become a huge success since her book's release, including two more books Ros Hemmings said she had been left upset by details in Raynor Winn's book and the subsequent film adaptation The Winns at a gala screening of The Salt Path film in Newquay, Cornwall earlier this year It has also emerged that the couple's real names are Sally and Tim Walker and they apparently owned a property near Bordeaux in France all along. Last night, Richard Osman said the couple could face financial repercussions if they have lied. He said 'a bomb would have gone off' at the publisher after the Observer's investigation claimed that husband's illness and events that led to the couple losing their home were untrue or exaggerated. Penguin Random House is the publisher of Mr Osman's Thursday Murder Club series, which is being made into a movie series by director Steven Spielberg. Speaking on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast with co-host Marina Hyde, he said the publisher could take legal action because Raynor and Moth Winn will have signed contracts confirming their memoirs were truthful. He said: 'People are going to be very, very hurt. I suggest there'll be some legal issues if these things do turn out to be not true. 'I think that probably you try and claw back some of the money that you've passed over. I don't know this particular contract. The contract would normally be that they have guaranteed that everything, in this piece is truthful'. Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs in the film adaptation of The Salt Path, which was released in May this year Marina Hyde said that Penguin Random House could end up giving the money to build a 'new neurology wing' and both predicted that the creditors could be called in again for the Winns. Richard Osman suggested that the couple may have got around £30,000 up front for The Salt Path before any profits from sales of more than two million copies worldwide. But the film released this year starring A-listers Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs would have been worth three to four million pound, he said. Richard added: 'One assumes, by the way, that the cheques got sent to Tim and Sally Walker, but that's another thing'. Penguin Random House said today it had taken all 'the necessary due diligence' before releasing The Salt Path. In a statement issued to BBC News, the publisher said: 'Penguin (Michael Joseph) published the Salt Path in 2018 and, like many readers, we were moved and inspired by Raynor's story and its message of hope. 'Penguin undertook all the necessary pre-publication due diligence, including a contract with an author warranty about factual accuracy, and a legal read, as is standard with most works of non-fiction.' It came as a healthcare charity dropped the author of The Salt Path after claims were made about her husband's illness and an allegation that she stole £64,000 from a former employer. PSPA said it was 'shocked and disappointed' about the allegations that were reported against Raynor and Moth Winn, which had 'taken everyone by surprise'. It was also announced yesterday that Raynor had pulled out of the upcoming Saltlines tour that would have seen her perform readings alongside the Gigspanner Big Band. Following an investigation into their backgrounds, The Observer said that The Salt Path's protagonists, Raynor 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. When the couple failed to repay a loan taken out with a relative to repay the stolen money - agreed on terms that the police would not be further involved - they lost their home, it is claimed. A spokeswoman for the Winns on Sunday night told the Mail that the allegations made in the Sunday newspaper were 'highly misleading'. Their statement added: 'The Salt Path lays bare the physical and spiritual journey Moth and I shared, an experience that transformed us completely and altered the course of our lives. This is the true story of our journey.' When asked to specify which allegations were misleading or factually inaccurate, the spokesman declined to comment further but said that the couple were taking legal advice. 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. The life expectancy for sufferers 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'. It is suggested that anyone suffering from CBD for longer than 12 years would need round-the-clock care. 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 The X Files' Anderson and Isaacs, who recently starred 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.
