AN ALLOA man has denied milking almost £86,000 from his elderly mother’s bank account while holding her power of attorney.

Andrew Rough, is jointly accused with his wife Jean of embezzling the money having been entrusted with the financial affairs of his mother.

It is alleged that both Andrew and Jean Rough took the money between September 2010 and July 2015 after his mother, of Gargunnock, Stirlingshire, allowed them to take control of her account.

Last week, Stirling Sheriff Court heard that police began an investigation and the complainer, now 86, was questioned by social workers after “large sums” were withdrawn from her savings.

She was diagnosed in 2014 as suffering from mild vascular cognitive impairment.

Mr and Mrs Rough, both 58, pleaded not guilty to the single charge against them and are currently on trial before a jury.

On Wednesday, the court heard that the elderly woman was “shocked and stunned” to find that tens of thousands had gone missing from her account after she entrusted her bank card to her son and daughter-in-law – both of former police officers.

The complainer said she had given her card to her daughter-in-law Jean to get a shopping in for her, as there was only one small shop in the village of Gargunnock, Stirlingshire, where she lived, and she didn’t drive.

She said she normally spent about £30 a week on shopping, and also asked Jean to withdraw her £40 to £50 a week cash, so she could pay her gardener and cleaner.

But the woman, who describes herself as “very cautious over finances” said concerns were raised after council officials checked her account in order to see if she needed to make contributions towards home care.

She said she “couldn’t understand” the outgoing payments that appeared on her statement.

She said Jean, who was in the police and later worked in a care home, and her son Andrew, a police sergeant based in Falkirk, had been the only people with access to her card.

She told the court: “I gave Jean my card to get my shopping. I told her just to hang onto it. I trusted Jean in every way.

“When statements came in I gave them straight to Jean; I didn’t even open them.”

The complainer was giving evidence by video link and was asked by prosecutor Sarah Lumsden how she felt when she saw money going out of her account which she had not spent herself.

She replied: “I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked because it was quite a large amount.“I never said anything to Andrew and Jean. I didn’t want to cause any trouble. I was stunned and didn’t know what to think.

“I didn’t know where the money was going because Andrew and Jean were the only ones who had my card – no other body.

“I was more or less saddened that they had done such a thing, because I’d never thought they’d have done such a thing.”

The widow, whose husband died last year, added: “I always trusted them.”

She admitted that she had given the pair permission to use her card for their own personal needs “if they were short”.

However, she said: “I was meaning groceries. I never grudged them anything.

“I didn’t mean buying clothes or something like that – I mean ordinary everyday messages.”

Ms Lumsden asked: “What about buying a summer house for their garden or purchasing laser eye surgery?”

She replied: “No, no way. Mind you, if they’d asked.”

The court heard earlier that in 2015 the complainer’s phone, which also allowed the operation of her MECS emergency care alarm, was cut off.

A cash machine withdrawal of £300 at an ATM in Alloa two days earlier, left her with only 37 pence in her account, meaning her direct debit to her phone provider bounced.

Later, in cross-examination, Lewis Kennedy, defence advocate for Mr Rough, said: “I’m suggesting that you never made that limit clear.”
The 86-year-old, while in her third day of giving evidence, replied: “That’s correct.”

She also agreed with Mr Kennedy that much of her money had come from a Criminal Injuries Compensation Board payout to her husband, also called Andrew, a retired forester, who died last year.

Mr Kennedy argued she had been in a position to be generous and put it to her that she had given the money as “a gift” to the pair.

He said: “It was only ever done with your consent, your permission, your blessings.

“I suggest that every one of these cash withdrawals and card purchases were signed off by you.”

She replied: “What I mean was, if it was really needed, not out of pleasure.”

Earlier, when prosecutor Ms Lumsden asked her how she felt about discovering that thousands of pounds had been withdrawn from her account, she said that she would have been “pretty sick” had she known about it at the time.

She said: “It makes me feel stupid now. I never gave it a thought, I trusted them all down the line.”

The court further heard that both Andrew and Jean Rough had both now left the police.

The trial, before Sheriff William Gilchrist and jury, continues.