Dynasty actress Stephanie Beacham came face to face with a hammer-wielding burglar during a terrifying break-in, a court heard.
The Coronation Street star, 75, was allegedly confronted by an intruder at her £750,000 home in Bayswater, West London, on September 25 last year.
Beacham, who has also played Sable Colby in The Colbys and Dynasty, had her purse and mobile phone stolen along with jewelry, keys and a check book, a court heard on December 21.
Stephanie Beacham, 75, was confronted by an intruder at her £750,000 home in Bayswater, West London, on September 25, a court heard
David Wilson, 56, has been charged with aggravated burglary and robbery and appeared at Southwark Crown Court in December. He denies the charges.
The charge claims he entered Beacham’s home ‘as a trespasser’ and had ‘a weapon of offence, namely a hammer’.
During a brief court hearing about the case, Prosecutor Gregor McKinley described the victim as vulnerable.
He also said the actress was an ‘elderly victim’ and asked the judge to set the date of the trial for next month.
Beacham is expected to appear as a witness.
Wilson, of no fixed address, is also accused of breaking into the home of a pensioner in Sheffield to steal a snooker competition medal, a mattress and a step ladder. He also denies this offense.
Judge Nicholas Rimmer remanded the defendant in custody until the next hearing on February 1.
It is not the first time that the British actress has fallen victim to thieves.
A number of her letters and hundreds of treasured family photographs were being moved to a storage unit when a burglar stole them from a transit van in south London in 2015.
But the items were later recovered after being found dumped in a suitcase by a 12-year-old boy out fishing with his father who recognized the star in the pictures.
A spokeswoman for the actress declined to comment on the case last night.
Beacham found fame playing glamorous Sable Colby opposite Joan Collins in the 1980s US soap, Dynasty
The actress appearing in Season 9 of Dynasty, a prime time American soap opera
Beacham first took on the role of Martha Fraser in Coronation Street before making a brief return last year.
Speaking last month, the veteran star said she was delighted to return to Corrie.
She told The Mirror: ‘Taking on a part where it doesn’t matter what I look like is a very exciting thing. It didn’t matter how I was lit or what angle I was shot from. It makes me breathe a sigh of relief and think, “At last!”
‘The important thing was playing the character as I was taught from the inside out, rather than all the concentration being on the outside. Beneath the external packaging, so to speak, I am a perfectly developed and still developing creature with so much life experience to bring to a role.’
Beacham said she was looking forward to taking on similar roles in the future and doesn’t plan on retiring as it ‘keeps me young’.
She added: ‘I don’t think actors retire. We just carry on until we can’t do it any more. Acting, with all its challenges, keeps me young.’
The Bad Girls star was last seen on the cobbles in 2009 when Martha and former love interest Ken Barlow, played by Bill Roache, 90, embarked on an affair behind his wife Deirdre’s back.
The Bad Girls star was last seen on the cobbles in 2009 when Martha and former love interest Ken Barlow, played by Bill Roache, 90, embarked on an affair behind his wife Deirdre’s back
Beacham first took on the role of Martha Fraser in Coronation Street before making a brief return last year. She’s seen giving an interview in December
Beacham’s original stint on Corrie lasted just five months but it went down in Corrie folklore.
Martha wooed Ken while living on a barge, having recently split from her husband, believing Ken was a widower after he told her the mother of his son Peter had passed away.
They bonded over a shared love of literature and after falling for each other they eventually kissed.
Riddled with guilt, Ken came clean about his marriage to Deirdre, sparking Martha’s decision to end their fling.
But the pair still couldn’t resist each other, eventually sleeping together and intending to leave Weatherfield before Ken had second thoughts and stayed with Deirdre.
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