A DUNOON woman was sent to prison last week for 18 months after she stole money from a vulnerable person she was caring for – and the victim’s family flew in from Canada to witness her sentencing
Mary MacDonald, (61), was led from the dock in handcuffs by prison transport officers in Dunoon Sheriff Court last Thursday morning, after she pled guilty to two charges of theft and fraudulent scheme.
Prior to her conviction she had previously been cited to appear in court on multiple occasions and her failure to do so resulted in a warrant for her arrest.
The case itself involved MacDonald caring for elderly local man Archie Smilie, a well known electrician from Dunoon who worked for many years at the local ceramics factory.
After gaining Archie’s trust through the provision of private home care MacDonald drained the elderly man’s bank account of thousands of pounds. Between May 7, 2020 and February 19, 2021 she formed a fraudulent scheme to access Archie’s cheque book where she then made out cheques to a Dunoon based business called Glasgow Sea Safari, obtaining £8,000 by fraud.
The business, which ceased trading years ago, was owned and operated by her husband Angus. Then between March 21, 2020 and February 19, 2022 MacDonald stole £4,000 from Archie’s account.
Malcom, Archie’s son, lives and works in Canada and flew into Scotland to attend MacDonald’s sentencing.
In an interview with the Dunoon Observer Malcolm explained the circumstances which led to the theft of his father’s savings and issued a warning to others, who may have vulnerable family members in care.
“My dad’s neighbour put me in contact with Mary, explained Malcolm. “He knew her through working with her husband. He was aware she did private home care and saw that my dad was struggling with some of the basics including cleaning, shopping etc.
“I visited my dad in February 2022 when he was in Ardnahein recovering from a hip replacement operation. I was going through his papers at home and found it odd that there were no bank statements from the last couple of years. He rarely threw anything out. I hadn’t been able to visit for two years due to Covid and knew he kept his bank statements in a specific place.”
Malcolm added: “I made an appointment at his bank and asked them to print out statements for the last 12 months. It was then I noticed a series of large cash withdrawals and payments that made me suspicious. I then
requested statements from the previous 12 months and found more of the same including cheques for large sums. I alerted my dad’s social worker who came to the same conclusion as me and we subsequently went to Dunoon police to report it. I asked Mary in person if she knew anything about these withdrawals and she said she didn’t.”
“The police told me is was £25,000 pounds but it was £12,000 that was reported in court on Thursday. I had to inform my dad at the care home of what I had discovered and that police would have to interview him.”
A few weeks later Archie died of a heart attack at the age of 94, but the incident had left him depressed and introverted and the fact he had trusted MacDonald weighed heavily on him.
Malcolm said: “He was clearly very upset by the news. He withdrew from all social activity at the care home and was very subdued. When the police spoke with my dad and took his statement he concluded it by saying; ‘I thought she was my friend’.”
MacDonald, had appeared in court multiple times over the last two years and was set to stand trial on September 30, but during a Intermediate Diet hearing, (a routine procedure before trial), she changed her plea to guilty.
“Having been the person who was the primary contact with Mary I have felt responsible – rightly or wrongly – for letting her into my father’s life,” explained Malcolm.
“I never expected it to take three years to come to a conclusion and felt that I had to be there in person to see her held to account which has really helped me with closure. It was a huge relief to see her given such a significant custodial sentence after so many delays. Knowing that she is now in prison makes me feel that I can now move forward as this has been colouring my life for the last few years. It also gives us solace and peace of mind knowing she can not harm any other individuals now that she is in prison.”
After celebrating the conviction with family and friends, at The Lorne Bar last Thursday afternoon Malcolm reflected on what happened to his father and hoped the details of this case would help pre-warn others.
He explained: “Anyone who has a private or agency carer for a family member should monitor their finances regularly and carefully look out for any anomalies in their spending – like cash withdrawals and cheque payments regardless of how trustworthy they believe the carer to be.
“In addition, they should make sure that bank and credit cards are closely guarded along with their PINs. Unfortunately there are unscrupulous and dishonest people out there that have no hesitation in taking advantage of their position of trust. I would encourage anyone who is suspicious of a vulnerable person being taken advantage of to contact their local authorities and the police.”
With MacDonald behind bars its understood that certain legal issues relating to the case may not be over, as there was no formal compensation order given as part of her sentence.
Malcolm said: “During the hearing MacDonalds solicitor said she had £12,000 pounds in her account set aside for repayment. The Sheriff asked if this was going to be made regardless of the sentence and Mary said yes. It remains to be seen if that is forthcoming. We may have to resort to civil litigation.
“In the past three years there were no efforts or offers of repayment or even remorse forthcoming to me or my family. We are grateful that myself and my daughter were able to be present in court that day to see justice prevail.”
