Dynasty star Stephanie Beacham has said she no longer feels safe in her cottage and has struggled to learn her lines after being threatened with a two-foot metal bar in a “terrifying” armed raid.
The 75-year-old actress, who starred alongside Dame Joan Collins in the hit 1980s series, was ordered to hand over her money and jewellery after confronting David Wilson, 57, after he broke into her home in Bayswater, west London.
Wilson, described as a “habitual career burglar”, was armed with a “jemmy” – a bar with a claw at the end – which he raised in a striking motion before telling Ms Beacham: ‘Don’t look at me.’
Prosecutor John Traversi told Southwark Crown Court: ‘During the course of this incident, which was terrifying for Ms Beacham, when in the circumstances of which she found herself, she had real fears for her life.’
Wilson, originally from Glasgow, was jailed for a total of 10 years and five months on Wednesday after pleading guilty to aggravated burglary over the raid on October 25 last year as well as a separate burglary in Sheffield on May 5, 2021 .
Nightmare: Stephanie Beacham has said she no longer feels safe in her cottage and has struggled to learn her lines after being threatened in an armed raid (pictured in 2022)
Burglar: David Wilson (pictured) claimed the raid was ‘unplanned’, suggesting he did not know whose home he was breaking into until he encountered the shocked actress
Judge Martin Griffiths said: ‘What you did had a traumatic effect on her. You violated the safe space of her home causing her to be suspicious of non-existent threats and even the difficulty of learning her lines when she goes for an acting job.’
Beacham, who returned to Coronation Street as Martha Fraser last year – more than 12 years after last appearance on the ITV soap – described the raid as a “total violation of my privacy”.
Reading from her victim statement, Traversi said: ‘She says what she had considered her very safe, cosy, cottage no longer feels safe.’
The prosecutor described an incident where Beacham thought she heard a noise upstairs when she had come home and got her neighbour to stand at the door while she checked.
‘Ms Beacham had a knife in her hand and didn’t even realise this. She didn’t know what she would’ve done, if anything,’ he said.
‘She had to ask her partner to come and get cash out of a cashpoint and felt herself being more aware of people in the streets and making more of a conscious effort to avoid contact with others.
Old times: Beacham (left), as Sable Colby in the 1980s Dynasty series, alongside former co-star Dame Joan Collins
Plum role: Of late the actress has enjoyed a career renaissance thanks to her starring role in long-running soap opera Coronation Street
‘She found it very hard to learn her lines. She is an actor. ‘She found it hard to concentrate and without the support of those at work with her, she thought she may have difficulty fulfilling her contract.
‘She was frightened to return home, which she had always considered as her safe place. She considered herself strong mentally but it made her feel old and vulnerable.”
The court heard Beacham has doubled her sleep medication, has nightmares and panic attacks and no longer walks her dog after dark.
‘She has had mental holographic images of the defendant standing at the end of the bed with the weapon in his hand,’ Traversi added.
He said CCTV footage shows Wilson with his jemmy before climbing up and using the tool to open a Velux window to break into Beacham’s home.
Upset: Police described the British actress, who found fame as Sable Colby in the 1980s US soap opera, as profoundly shaken following the burglary at her home
Ordeal: The actress was ordered to hand over her money and jewellery after confronting burglar David Wilson
‘Stephanie Beacham was upstairs at her home in London, the Bayswater area, when she heard a noise downstairs,’ he said.
‘She began to descend the stairs, calling out, “who’s that?” And she sees the defendant standing at the bottom of the staircase.
‘He ran up towards her holding up to her face what he saw as a metal bar with a claw at the end, some two feet in length, and what she described as undoubtedly a jemmy, as used by burglars since time immemorial to gain access to properties and steal therein.
‘When he came up the stairs she had her phone in her hand. He told her to drop it and to get upstairs. She did as she was ordered and went to the bathroom.
‘He then said to her, “give me your money”, and she emptied her wallet. Not satisfied with that, he said, “That’s not your money” and went on to tell her, “give me your jewellery”.
‘She took a silver bracelet from her wrist and gave it to him.’
Household name: Beacham as Martha Fraser, the love interest of Ken Barlow, in a scene from Coronation Street
Terrified: Beacham has doubled her sleep medication, has nightmares and panic attacks and no longer walks her dog after dark, a court was told during Wilson’s trial on Wednesday
The court heard Wilson then saw an oriental chest and said: ‘There’s your jewellery,’ before using his jimmy to pry it open and sift through the contents.
‘He turned to Ms Beacham and held the bar up in line with his head in a striking motion and said, “don’t look at me”.
‘She bravely enough replied she was not looking at him. He then said, “I wish you weren’t here,” telling her again to stop looking at him and sending her into the bathroom.’
The court heard she locked herself in the bathroom and called the police once he had gone outside.
Wilson also made off with her iPhone, purse containing bank cards and driving license and a pair of earrings.
Beacham made her film debut in 1971’s The Nightcomers with Marlon Brando, and also later starred in Dynasty spin-off The Colbys as glamorous Sable Colby.
Wilson also admitted a separate burglary at an elderly woman’s home in Sheffield, while she was in hospital, in which he stole the 1985 paraplegic snooker championship medal, a step ladder and a mattress.
He has 64 previous convictions, including 34 for burglary or attempted burglary and two convictions for aggravated burglary.
Welcome back: Beacham returned to Coronation Street as Martha Fraser last year – more than 12 years after last appearance on the ITV soap
Claire Mawer, defending, said her client had been addicted to crack cocaine and heroin since the age of 15, had written a letter in which he said: ‘What I did was so wrong and I understand the effect my offending had.’
Wilson claimed the raid was ‘unplanned’, suggesting he did not know whose home he was breaking into until he encountered the shocked actress.
The star is said to have disturbed him as he was ransacking her home in Bayswater, west London, at around 2pm last September.
For 20 minutes, she waited helplessly as the thief grabbed various items of jewellery, her purse, mobile phone, cheque book and her keys before leaving the property – and her – unharmed.
When police arrived later, they described the British actress as profoundly shaken.
Wilson admitted aggravated burglary at Southwark Crown Court, but Claire Mawer, defending, said: ‘The aggravated burglary in relation to Beacham was unplanned.’
She added: ‘He has experienced long-term difficulties with drug addiction.’
Silence: The actress has not spoken openly about her frightening ordeal but in a previous hearing prosecutor Gregor McKinley described the ‘vulnerability of the victim’
Wilson also admitted carrying out an earlier unrelated burglary when he targeted a pensioner in Sheffield, stealing a snooker championship medal, a step ladder and a mattress in May last year.
The guilty pleas mean Beacham will be spared from having to give evidence at a trial which had been due to take place later this month.
The actress has not spoken openly about her frightening ordeal but in a previous hearing prosecutor Gregor McKinley described the ‘vulnerability of the victim’.
The defendant, who appeared via videolink from Wandsworth prison, spoke only to confirm his name and enter the pleas on Wednesday.
It can now be revealed that Wilson is a prolific burglar with a long criminal history who had only just been released early from prison when he targeted Beacham.
In February 2021 he was jailed for three years for committing two residential burglaries in York over nine days, stealing a large amount of jewellery, handbags and electrical items.
Iconic: Iconic: Steaphanie Beacham with Marlon Brando in the 1971 film, The Nightcomers
At the time he was charged with those offences, Wilson was already serving a prison sentence for previous burglaries.
Investigator Dave Pegg, said at the time: ‘Wilson has caused great distress to his victims and deserves every second of his sentence.’
The career criminal has spent much of his adult life in prison.
By January 2007 – when he was jailed for two years for yet more burglaries in York – Wilson had already spent 13 years in jail for successive offences.
For a time he worked as a market trader and then was employed at a Nestle factory in York.
But when he lost his job and his marriage broke down, Wilson started stealing again.
He was so incompetent he left DNA or fingerprints at three houses and went straight back to prison, York Crown Court was told.
In one raid, he used a fence post to smash through a patio door to steal a brooch, which he later gifted to his wife when she visited him in prison.
Judge Paul Hoffman told him in 2007: ‘For three years, when you had the support of your loyal wife, you went straight. But when things got tough in the domestic sense and you lost your job, you, as you frankly said, returned to what you know best.’
This week Judge Martin Griffith adjourned the case for sentencing next month.
A spokesman for Beacham declined to comment on the case yesterday.
During the 1980s, she achieved global stardom with her role in Dynasty, featuring in 23 episodes of the US drama opposite Joan Collins and John Forsythe.
She also appeared in 49 episodes of Dynasty spin-off show, The Colbys.
The Golden Globe-nominated star subsequently starred in BBC drama Tenko and has made guest appearances in shows including Bad Girls and Casualty.
Most recently she has returned as Ken Barlow’s love interest in Coronation Street, following a successful stint on the ITV soap in 2009.
Last month Beacham said working had kept her young: ‘I don’t think actors retire. We just carry on until we can’t do it anymore. Acting, with all its challenges, keeps me young.’
Stephanie Beacham says she ‘struggled to learn her lines’ after burglary
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