A Fife carer has been found guilty of embezzling ” a large sum of money” from an elderly dementia patient.
Kathleen MacKay took the cash from the account of 83-year-old Alison Hildreth over a period of two years.
The 68-year-old was initially accused of taking almost £50,000 but the charge was amended after it was argued Mrs Hildreth’s son and detective Gordon Kruszewski had both arrived at different amounts for the missing cash.
A 12-man jury – depleted from the usual 15 through illness and other circumstances – took just over an hour to find MacKay guilty, with the majority voting in favour of conviction.
Son discovered cash withdrawals
The court had previously heard evidence from Mrs Hildreth’s son, Allan, who said there had been a series of mysterious cash withdrawals from his “vulnerable” mother’s account.
After the retired teacher suffered a fall, Mr Hildreth gained power of attorney over her affairs and noticed the regular withdrawals of up to £500 from various cashpoints.
He said MacKay had access to the account so she could take her wages but money was missing.
He said: “There should have been a surplus each month but instead it was diminishing, with three or four thousand withdrawn a month.
“I was shocked because from May 2019 there was over £30,000 and by 2020 there was only £3,000.
“I saw there was lots of withdrawals of £500, which set alarm bells ringing.
“There was some marked as ‘London’ but I knew my mother hadn’t been to London.”
He said these withdrawals had taken place at a cinema chain with a head office in the city.
Co-worker told of spending
A co-worker told the trial MacKay had spent lavishly and claimed the money came from a lottery win.
Bernadette Morgan said: “She has a small sports car, full Sky package and her home was decorated well.
“It’s my opinion that she was spending money well above her income.
“She also gave a lot of very expensive presents in December 2019.”
She said MacKay had spent £4,000 on a new engine for her car.
Sentencing in November
However, MacKay’s friends and family denied she had lived outside her means.
Her son William McDonald said she drove a Seat car bought at auction for £500 after an insurance write-off and the engine story was nonsensical.
A friend said MacKay had asked her to look after money she was saving to renovate her living room and she saved £800 over a matter of months to do so.
MacKay, of David Street, Dunfermline, was found guilty of embezzling a large sum of money from Mrs Hildreth at several addresses in in the town between May 1, 2018 and May 31, 2020.
She will be sentenced at a later date when reports have been prepared.
