Fife funeral fraudster dissolves clinic after venture into new unregulated business sector

Convicted Fife funeral fraudster Barry Stevenson-Hamilton’s latest business venture into another unregulated Scottish industry has lasted just over a month.

Stevenson-Hamilton was jailed for 33 months after selling dozens of phoney pre-paid funeral plans to unsuspecting Fifers and trousering more than £130,000.

Last year, he was also struck off by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) after being convicted of posing as a registered nurse in Lanarkshire.

After being released from prison, the crook set up an aesthetics clinic named Valka in Balerno on the edge of Edinburgh.

However the enterprise was shut down around a month after being incorporated.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing.

One of Scotland’s leading campaigners for regulation in the aesthetics industry says the fraudster’s ability to set up and practice makes a “mockery” of current scrutiny.

Short-lived clinic

After being jailed at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, Stevenson-Hamilton was released from custody in 2023.

On August 6 this year, he established Valka Aesthetics & Beauty Ltd, an aesthetics clinic which offered services including lip augmentation and Botox.

Online, he stated he was trained on Harley Street, an area of central London synonymous with medical practices.

A photograph on his website showed Stevenson-Hamilton apparently injecting a chemical into a patient’s face.

The website carried the tagline “Where aesthetics meets perfection.”

Barry Fisher – the name under which Stevenson-Hamilton was convicted in Lanarkshire – was the only person listed as a director.

‘Advanced training and reputable products’

The company had taken bookings through Groupon and industry website Treatwell.

On Treatwell’s website’s “meet the team section” a bio was available describing a clinic director known only as “B”.

It read: “Having completed advanced training in Harley Street, London, in a variety of non-surgical procedures, followed by a number of posts in the aesthetics field, I decided to open our clinic to provide safe, professional and quality treatment for our clients.

“Working with some of the best surgeons, doctors and aesthetics teams across the UK has given me the knowledge and desire to ensure that aesthetics remain ethical, safe and patient centred.

“I only use reputable, prescribed products in my clinic.

“This is something that I insist on to give me the peace of mind that every patient receives their desired outcomes of treatment.

The website is now unavailable.

Enterprise terminated

On September 22, an application was lodged on Companies House to strike the business off the register and dissolve it.

Barry Fisher alone signed the document as company director.

Valka’s website has also been shut down.

Online, the company had received half-a-dozen five-star publicly-available reviews.

The Courier has not received any complaints relating to any procedures carried out at the clinic.

The Courier contacted Mr Fisher for comment.

Fraudster’s case ‘a mockery’

Stevenson-Hamilton was slammed for his malicious actions in what was, at the time, the unregulated undertaking industry.

Days after his conviction, the Financial Conduct Authority took over regulation of the funeral sector.

Aesthetics remains an unregulated industry in Scotland but this is something the Scottish Medical Aesthetics Safety Group want to see changed.

Director Jacqui Cooney said: “You could go on a one-day training course, open a clinic with a criminal record and inject somebody’s face and nobody would bat an eyelid.

“Barry Stevenson-Hamilton or Fisher obviously is a criminal because he’s had a criminal sentence. He’s been struck off by the SSSC as well.

“Criminals are moving from one clinic to another, moving on.

“Just because it’s Botox doesn’t mean it’s not medicine – you can cause strokes or blindness from dermo fillers.”

Explaining training and accreditation claims in general, Ms Cooney said: “It could be online, it may not have been in person.

“There is no legal requirement to be insured.

“These people are going on, possibly, an online course for three or four hours, getting a certificate and sending it to insurance firms.”

Ms Cooney says “have-a-go Joes” can achieve “10 certificates in one day”.

“They go from novice to expert in a day.

“There’s no onus on them, they don’t get struck off,  they can do what they like.

“It’s got worse since lockdown.”

Government progress

Regulation of the aesthetics industry in Scotland is being actively considered by the Scottish Government.

In June, new secondary legislation commenced regulating independent healthcare services including non-surgical cosmetic procedures provided by pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

Public health Minister Jenni Minto said: “I have confirmed that a public consultation into non-surgical cosmetic procedures to address gaps in regulation will be published before the end of the year.

“This is the next step in the process of delivering our goal of ensuring robust and proportionate regulation is introduced.

“We want to ensure all cosmetic procedures in Scotland are delivered from hygienic premises by appropriately trained practitioners, applying recognised standards and using regulated products.”

Criminal past

Barry Stevenson-Hamilton pled guilty to running a six-year scam at Stevensons funeral parlours around Fife by selling pre-paid funeral plans but pocketing the cash instead.

He raked in more than £130,000 by selling 40 of the fraudulent schemes to clients across the Kingdom.

Stevenson-Hamilton falsely represented himself as a qualified nurse at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He passed himself off as a nurse to H1 Healthcare but was convicted and later struck off by industry body the SSSC.