Salted Path

Chloe Hadjimatheou via The Observer on 2025-07-06:

They realised Walker’s offer might be their only chance to get their money back so, Hemmings says, they allowed Walker to repay the £9,000 and moved on with their lives.

But that’s not where things ended. “We kept looking back [through the accounts],” Hemmings remembers. “In the end, I think it was around £64,000 she’d nicked over the previous few years.”

...

In total, Sally and Tim Walker borrowed £100,000 from Rebecca’s husband James. Documents filed at the Land Registry show the loan from Tim Walker’s relative was secured against the Walkers’ house with a substantial annual interest rate of 18% “payable on demand”.

...

Life expectancy for CBD sufferers is often tragically short: six to eight years from diagnosis is typical. Many patients suffer debilitating symptoms significantly before that, often ending in the need for around-the-clock care. In Tim Walker’s case, he has been living with the condition for 18 years and he seems to have no visibly acute symptoms.

I wonder sometimes what a life like this would feel like. One where you move from place to place, using person after person, subordinate to the demands of the grift you started years ago. Burning bridges behind you, leaning on each person's trust until it breaks and you have to move on. I've heard so many similar stories, though I guess this speaks well of the large amounts of basically good, generous people in the world, who end up burned by users.