A Renfrewshire man has walked free after giving his seriously ill girlfriend's life savings to his wife-to-be.
William Dunn, 69, gave £112,971.46 of former Beatson cancer nurse Lynda Grant's money to to bus firm boss Karen Dolan, after meeting them both on dating website match.com.
However, the jury delivered a not proven verdict for embezzlement after he claimed it was an investment and that both of his former partners knew about it, the Daily Record reports.
READ MORE: Family of vulnerable Scots patient looking for answers after he ‘walked out’ of hospital ward
Dunn, of Elderslie, had access to 63-year-old Lynda's bank accounts and NHS pension, as he was granted Power of Attorney over her after she was taken into hospital and fell into a coma. Lynda was later moved to a care home due to her health conditions and received none of the money from her life savings back.
While in charge of 63-year-old Lynda's affairs, Dunn, a retired builder, began a relationship with Dolan, 59. Lynda - Dunn's partner of three years - had previously asked her children to make sure that Dunn was "okay" if anything happened to her.
Dunn, meanwhile, delivered her money into the accounts of his new partner, so she could invest it into her "troubled" coach company, Colchri Limited.
The couple were then married at a "lovely, plush hotel", without Lynda or her family's knowledge. Lynda only learned he had married months later, when her daughter saw wedding pictures on Dunn's Facebook profile.
Dunn and Dolan later split weeks before their first wedding anniversary amid claims of Dunn's infidelity. Lynda, who has had to retire due to her health problems following complications caused by a bladder operation, noticed that the bulk of her money had vanished after looking at her accounts.
When she confronted Dunn over the missing cash, he promised her he would pay the cash back. But the police were called in when the money was not returned, and Dunn was arrested and charged with embezzlement.
Lynda told Paisley Sheriff Court: "I'm skint now. I can't remember an exact figure [of how much was left in my accounts when I came out of the care home], it was probably a few hundred. The money that I should've had from the sale of my house and my savings, that was gone."
Dunn claimed he, Lynda and her teacher son, Alan Grant, had agreed to reduce her assets so she would not be liable for care home costs. He also said he agreed with then new wife Dolan that he would invest Lynda's life savings in her firm.
He claimed it was to be used as a "short-term loan" by the coach company, which would be used as a float for the business, and would see Lynda receiving the money back in full, plus a profit of 3.5 per cent. No paperwork was ever produced to prove the loan existed and Dolan insisted it was not a loan and that Dunn had told her the money was from his own offshore account.
Lynda and Alan also denied ever agreeing for Dunn, of Elderslie, Renfrewshire, to make investments on Lynda's behalf to reduce her assets. Yesterday, the jury in Dunn's trial took just under three and a half hours to find the embezzlement charge against him not proven by majority.
Sheriff Bruce Erroch told cancer survivor Dunn, who walks with the aid of crutches due to complications from type 1 diabetes: "You are free to go."
READ NEXT:
East Renfrewshire missing man with 'distinctive scar' sparks police probe
Blantyre man goes missing as police 'increasingly concerned' for his welfare
Prospective Glasgow Clyde College students set to have their minds read to find perfect course
Pet rabbits abandoned in cardboard box on a Lanarkshire street
Glasgow salon offers free back to school haircuts to families who can't afford to pay
