An East Lothian son stole a staggering £2,000 from his 95-year-old mum as she battled dementia, leaving her without enough food or heating in her home.
Gordon Stewart was put in charge of his mother’s finances but used her account as his personal piggy bank.
The 58-year-old took out money to pay for his road tax, petrol, and fast food orders.
Carers for frail Mary Stewart were left concerned for her wellbeing after seeing she had little to eat.
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On one occasion, they found her wrapped up in her freezing East Lothian home as her son hadn’t used her money to pay the meter.
Stewart appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Wednesday and admitted carrying out a fraudulent scheme by using his mother’s money for himself when she didn’t have the capacity to consent, reports the Record.
Fiscal depute Gillian Koren told how Stewart had power of attorney over Mary’s finances and was supposed to make sure her needs were cared for.
Ms Koren said Mary “would always run out of bread” while Stewart would often claim he was “too busy” to go to the shops for her.
Mary would go without bread for a week, the court heard, so her carer would buy her “essentials” out of their own pocket.
Ms Koren said the electric meter in Mary’s home “would go low” as her son wasn’t putting cash in.
The court heard a carer found the pensioner “wrapped in a blanket and housecoat on top of her clothes” while the house was “freezing cold”.
Ms Koren said Mary thought her heating “wasn’t working” but the meter was “empty”.
Social workers were alerted and Mary’s funds were re-arranged to give her £50-a-week to give her “some financial freedom”.
The court was told a carer later heard Mary whisper to her son, “Is £50 a month enough?”
On another occasion, Stewart, who then lived in Dunbar, East Lothian, was heard telling his mum, “You can’t expect me to visit unless you give me petrol money”.
Carers continued to find Mary didn’t have money before she was diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer’s in 2018.
A copy of her bank records were checked and payments had come out for her son’s petrol, road tax, and fast food.
Ms Koren said doctors assessed Mary and found she had “extremely poor short-term memory and did not know who was managing her money”.
The court was told Stewart resigned his power of attorney in December 2018 after an investigation began into his mum’s finances.
He later accompanied his mother to the RBS branch in Tranent on a number of occasions to try and withdraw money from her account.
Concerned RBS staff referred the matter to police.
The offence was carried out between April 14 2018 and January 29 2019 while Mary was aged 94 to 95.
Solicitor Julie Torley said it was “clearly a sad and unpleasant case”.
Ms Torley said her client took his mother to stay at his own address when she was found “freezing” in her home.
Sheriff Douglas Keir said: “This is indeed a very unpleasant case.”
He added Stewart’s mum had been “in great need of a safe pair of hands and a loving son which was something lacking on this occasion”.
Sentence was deferred on Stewart, now of Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders, until next month for reports.
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