Frances had only just arrived at work when she received a phone call that turned her life upside down.
Police officers had arrested her solicitor husband Andrew over allegations he was defrauding clients – and were searching the family home the couple shared with their two children.
Andrew’s office, in a leafy village to the south of Manchester, also resembled a scene from a TV drama – cloaked in yellow crime tape, staff in shock and records being boxed up.
His legal practice held power of attorney for many elderly people with dementia. But the police discovered that hundreds of thousands of pounds of Andrew’s clients’ money were missing. Officers later found he had spent the funds on adult webcam sites, sex workers and antiques.
That was 12 years ago.
A resulting court case would hear Andrew’s impulsive behaviour was caused by medication he was being prescribed for Parkinson’s disease.
He stole from 13 of his clients. All, except two, were aged over 80, and some were unwell. They had a combined £600,000 taken from their accounts.
One 87-year-old living in a care home died shortly after the theft – her estate didn’t have enough money to pay for her funeral.
“People didn’t want to know us, and I can understand that entirely,” says Frances, thinking back to what Andrew did. While their daughter, Alice, says her father “never forgave himself”.
Andrew’s behaviour would later have tragic consequences.
His case is extreme – but far from isolated.
Over the past year, we have spoken to scores of families whose lives have been torn apart by impulsive behaviours caused by a family of medications known as dopamine agonist drugs.
These include the development of new sexual urges – such as addictions to pornography and sex workers – but also compulsive shopping and gambling that have cost people tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds.
