Corrie star 'no longer feels safe' as armed burglar is jailed for 10 years

Coronation Street’s Stephanie Beacham has told how she no longer feels safe in her home as an armed man who confronted and burgled her has been jailed for more than 10 years.

The actress, known for her role as Martha Fraser and starring alongside Dame Joan Collins in the 80s series Dynasty, was forced to hand over money and jewellery after David Wilson, 57, broke into her home.

It is said that Wilson raised a jemmy – a bar with a claw at the end – in front of Stephanie and told her ‘don’t look at me.’

‘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’, Prosecutor John Traversi told Southward Crown Court.

Today, Wilson pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary over the break-in last year, and a separate ordeal back in 2021.

He was sentenced to 10 years and five months.

‘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’, Judge Martin Griffiths added.

Reading Stephanie’s personal victim statement, Traversi said: ‘What she had considered her very safe, cosy, cottage no longer feels safe. The prosecutor described an incident where Ms 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 explained.

‘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.

‘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 also discovered that Stephanie has since doubled her sleeping medication, regularly experiences nightmares, panic attacks and won’t walk her dog after dark.

‘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’, Traversi added, describing the moment Wilson broke in.

‘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.’

The court heard she locked herself in the bathroom and called the police once he had gone outside.

Stephanie reprised her role as Martha Fraser in Coronation Street last year.

She returned to the cobbles to help out with a local AmDram play, but found herself questioning her feelings for Ken Barlow (William Roache), who she had an affair with back in the day.

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