Interesting story of Dopamine Agonists

I found this story from an on-line newspaper.

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A PARKINSON'S sufferer from Hull has told how medication turned him from a respectable IT manager into a gambling addict who spent thousands on a luxury lifestyle.

Peter Shepherd became hooked on all-night television game shows and visiting casinos.

The former town councillor says the side effects of the drugs saw him addicted to living a luxury existence, splashing out £400,000 on items including cars and holidays.

He bought seven high value cars and went on exotic trips and cruises on his own.

He spent £150,000 hiring Bentleys, Porches and Ferraris and even used three helicopters for excursions.

The 59-year-old, of Princes Avenue, west Hull, also became addicted to cross-dressing and wore size 12 stilettos.

He had been prescribed the drug Cabergoline for Parkinson's Disease and claims he suffered the obsessive and violent side effects – including pouring a pot of hot stew over his partner – as a result of the medication.

The impact on his life came to light after police arrested him for a £45,000 'Take That' ticket scam which was helping to fund his lifestyle.

Mr Shepherd said: "It has been a nightmare. I only confessed to my wife days before the police knocked on the door. She has put up with so much from me.

"I was mortified when I came off the drugs and I realised I had let down hundreds of people and my wife. I was horrified to learn of my behaviour."

Mr Shepherd and his wife Deborah, 43, have pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court to transferring criminal property.

Six counts of fraud were also admitted by Mr Shepherd, who claims his offending was a result of the medication.

Over 11 months in 2007 he defrauded 172 people making £45,700 from the ticket scam and spending the money to fund his luxury lifestyle.

He used an Internet auction website account belonging to his wife and had the money placed in her bank account. She was unaware of the situation until days before the police arrested her. She initially claimed she had committed the fraud to protect him.

Recorder Henry Prosser sentenced Mr Shepherd to a conditional discharge for two years and his wife to a 12 month community order and supervision, ordering her to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work.

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Quite a story.

What I fail to understand is why his wife abetted him so readily? She must have realised that his salary never matched the extravagant lifestyle they were leading!
It was my understanding that both of the accused got the sentences the learned judge deemed appropriate, after hearing compelling evidence from 3 barristers and 2 neurology professors specialising in PD.

When did you graduate in neurology and law, Luke?

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When I got PD!

When did you become his defence lawyer?
nownow lets keep it nice being on agonists myself if things got out of hand like it did for this man my wife Ithink would pick it up sright away and my feelings are that they got what the law siad so and Ialso feel the wife should of asked her husband what was going on well before it got as far as it did
maybe and quite probley im very very luckey. i seemed so far to have exprinced very little or no side effects what so ever from my pd meds .Im wondering how many people have sufferd serious side effects .if so why (if the doctors know what these drugs cause) are doctors still perscribeing these meds .IS IT NOT going to cause an eperdemic of crime o.c.d.and verious other horrbile alments that the poor pd sufferer is going to exspernice .IS THERE NOTHING that can be given in those pd meds place that wont cause such serious side effects
Hi Lukey,

It's a very sad story which many of us PwP can identify with since we too have suffered the same character and life changing effects of Dopamine Agonists, albeit not apparently to such an amazingly huge amount.

The tragic effects it has had on our family and friends must be permanent and the trust lost not recoverable - a scar for life.

However, I remember the saying," The higher you fly, the harder you fall" and the reminder of the taste of 'Paradise', lost in such a way, must be a constant thorn in anyone's side, enough possibly to change their perception of humanity, adversely, for the rest of their years.

Mr Shepherd appears to have 'gone through the mill' and thankfully come out of it better than most and has been supported, continuously by his amazing wife. I hope he realizes how lucky he has been.

Some not so lucky should be remembered also in our thoughts.

Cecily.