Mr X died on 23rd July. He had serious physical illness and, latterly, succumbed to mental health problems too. He began to give his limited income away to the homeless, some of whom tried to take advantage, including by moving into his flat. He mentioned to friends that he had “employed” someone allegedly named Alicia to be his “housekeeper”. He also claimed to have “employed” two people in a new business venture.
He was seen drinking in Birmingham City Centre with a woman he described as his “niece from Halesowen”. He told friends about his day out too. A couple calling themselves “Alicia and Michael” sent various emails to him calling him “uncle”. “Alicia” seems to use at least two made-up names. It is not known how much cash Mr X gave this pair. Needless to say, X did not have a niece in Halesowen.
Old friends had never heard Mr X speak of Mr Nathan Saunderson but this young man claims to be an old friend of X’s having met him “in the pub a few months ago”. It would have been self-evident that X was not a well man. Yet Saunderson, who describes himself as a “Solicitor’s Apprentice” at the firm of Shoosmiths in Birmingham, managed to get hold of X’s Lloyds Bank details and stated in writing to X, “just been down to the local branch and they’ve told me your accounts closed down - apparently some sort of tax fraud and moving monies through charity.” (Mr X was not involved in illegal activities. His accounts did face temporary stoppages seemingly due to excessive cash withdrawals.)
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| Nathan Saunderson |
It is not known how Saunderson presented himself at the Bank and whether he used his employment status to get it to divulge information. And quite why Lloyds chose to discuss confidential account details with a third party is unclear. For his part, Saunderson says that he obtained X’s bank details since X wanted to borrow some money from him. Quite why that involved visiting the Bank and soliciting private information is not explained.
X had a very long connection with a well-known Birmingham city centre pub. But as his health declined he became abusive towards his friends. During one manic spell, X tried to set up a charity event at the pub and paid for the hire of private rooms via an online booking system. When the whole thing went wrong X erroneously claimed that the manager of the pub owed him £200. He made this false allegation on social media too. This conduct arose, of course, from his ill health.
On 21st July, 2026 whilst X was in hospital and incapable of managing his affairs, Saunderson and another man entered the pub at 9.30pm and demanded repayment of the non-existent £200 debt. They claimed that they were representing X which they most certainly were not. The staff felt intimidated and were distressed by the incident. The other man was a qualified Solicitor, Michael Harrigan, also employed by Shoosmiths.
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| Michael Harrigan |
When questioned by someone representing X’s bereaved family, Saunderson confirmed that he and an unnamed person (now known to be Harrigan) had been in to “ask” about the (non-existent) debt and added in writing, “That was the extent of our involvement, and we didn’t pursue the matter any further.” By this time Saunderson had been informed in writing that X had died and he was aware that his actions were being questioned.
Incredibly, on Thursday 6th August, 2026 Harrigan and Saunderson went back into the pub and aggressively tried to collect £200 in the full knowledge that they certainly had no authority from X’s estate to do so. The staff report that Harrigan was particularly aggressive. The staff had to bundle the pair out through the door. They say they feared for their own safety and again found the behaviour of this pair to be very distressing.
On the following day the pub reported the two incidents to West Midlands Police. But, according to the Police, physically threatening and verbally attacking the staff of a pub in respect of a non-existent debt (which Harrigan and Saunderson had no authority to collect anyway) is NOT a criminal offence but “a civil matter”. Noting that WMP routinely investigates nasty tweets etc. as “harassment”, this seems absolutely incredible particularly when the staff feared actual violence - not just once but twice!
A spokesperson for Shoosmiths Solicitors, Sophie Cowen - Head of Responsible Business and Talent Acquisition, said: “my understanding is that this is a personal matter relating to the individuals you identified. They are acting in a personal capacity and are not representing Shoosmiths in connection with the matter you raised.” So that’s alright then …
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