A ‘Walter Mitty’ character who posed as an ex-SAS soldier and stole from his 94-year-old war veteran father has been jailed for eight months.
Edward Stewart, 53, from Harrogate, set up a fake online profile in 2016, masquerading as a former member of the elite special forces unit “to impress women”.
He claimed he had once been on SAS missions in Syria and Afghanistan and provided personal protection for Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, as well as Princess Diana and Hollywood star Brad Pitt.
Following his bogus revelations, he was welcomed back into his family and moved in with his elderly father David Brunton, who trusted him to manage his finances and make purchases for him, York Crown Court heard.
But instead of looking after his ailing father, Stewart systematically rifled through his account after being handed his bank card. The elderly widower was now a “broken man” and in poor health, the court heard.
Prosecutor Matthew Collins said it was alleged that Stewart stole tens of thousands from his father after his family carried out their own internal investigation into the crimes.
Read more:
- Harrogate man jailed 15 years for child sex offences
- Ripon man jailed for downloading over 1,000 indecent child images
There had been numerous withdrawals from Mr Brunton’s bank account, allegedly over several years, and Stewart was arrested after the police were called in
He was charged with one count of fraud and three counts of theft but denied all allegations apart from one count of stealing £1,666 from his father during a four-week spree between June and July 2019.
He was due to face trial on the other allegations, but the family made a last-minute decision not to pursue these charges and they were allowed to lie on court file.
Father served in Grenadier Guards
Stewart, of Robert Street, appeared for sentence on Wednesday on the single count of theft he had admitted but Mr Collins said this did not mean the family accepted he was innocent of the other alleged thefts. The remaining alleged stolen amounts would be pursued through the civil courts.
He said that Mr Brunton, who served in the Grenadier Guards during the war, had recently been ill in hospital and his condition had considerably worsened since his son’s wicked betrayal.
He said Stewart had used his father’s bank card to make payments and withdrawals from cash machines.
His sister Francesca Brunton launched her own investigation and Stewart admitted to his family that he had stolen the £1,666 in the summer of 2019.
Mr Collins said:
“Repayment was arranged by direct debit at £50 per month.”
However, full repayment had still not been made and had now stopped.
Read more:
- Bogus roofers attempt to scam Harrogate’s elderly
- Ex-Crimple Hall employee ordered to pay back the money he stole from the garden centre
- Bogus wedding planner overshadows Harrogate couple’s dream day
The rest of the alleged stolen cash – said to be “tens of thousands of pounds” – had also allegedly been withdrawn from cash points.
Mr Collins said Stewart had been trusted to do errands such as shopping for his father, but he “abused that trust for his own personal gain” after being welcomed back into the family following his fake revelations about his ‘military career’ – lies that were later exploded after he was unmasked by the ex-soldiers’ internet group The Walter Mitty Hunters Club HQ, which exposes impostors and people with fake military pretensions.
Stewart, a former hotel worker, hit national headlines in 2016 after he was named and shamed by the Facebook group.
Claimed to protect Brad Pitt
His boastful fake posts included one in which he claimed to have suffered a wound from a knife attack while protecting Brad Pitt. He also said that he had stayed with Prince William and Kate to protect their son Prince George from a terrorist attack soon after he was born.
He also said he knew Bear Grylls and talked about a burn on his chest from a ‘flash-bang’ injury during his 30 years of ‘military service’.
He said he had been on missions to Syria and claimed he had been made to kill a young Iraqi goat herder who had pointed an AK47 at him.
Read more:
- Harrogate jeweller not warned about ‘terrifying’ police VIP exercise
- Police have ‘public duty’ to tackle noisy cars, says commissioner
His father had been “shocked and shamed” by his son’s mock military profile and “the blackening of his name in the press”.
Despite this, he forgave his son and put his trust in him once again after Stewart made an apology in the press.
The subsequent betrayal, through the cash withdrawals, had an “extreme” effect on the decorated war hero.
Francesca Brunton, the victim’s daughter, said her father had suffered “mentally and physically” since Stewart’s “treachery”.
Her ailing father had received daily calls from his bank and bailiffs had become involved after Stewart allegedly “falsified” a standing order on his account.
This had had a “devastating” effect on her father’s “already fragile health”, which had “steeply declined” and he was now a “broken man”.
No contact with dad again
Abbi Whelan, for Stewart, said he had made attempts to repay the money and had lost his old job following his arrest. He had found new work as a delivery driver but would lose that job and his home if he were jailed.
Ms Whelan added:
“He is aware that he will never have any contact with his father again.”
Judge Simon Hickey labelled Stewart a “complete Walter Mitty character” who had taken his father’s money for his “own selfish ends”.
He told Stewart:
“Your elderly and now frail father is, in contrast to you, a man of impeccable character.
“He’s one of the few remaining veterans from the Second World War…who, as such, should have been cherished by you and not defrauded in the way you had.
“You are a complete Walter Mitty character who (posed) as a SAS forces soldier, something your father would find abhorrent. It was against that background that you came to live with your family who remain devastated to this day.”
Stewart was jailed for eight months.
