A pensioner accused of embezzling his ill girlfriend's life savings used her money as his own "to make his future brighter", a jury was told yesterday. William Dunn, 69, denies swiping £112,971.46 from his partner of three years, former Beatson cancer nurse Lynda Grant, 63.
The money he is accused of illegally taking was made up of her savings, cash from the sale of her house, NHS pension and PIP payments. His Paisley Sheriff Court trial heard he sent the money from Lynda's accounts to Karen Dolan, 59, while Lynda was ill.
After sending Dolan the money the pair married, without Lynda's knowledge, at "a fancy, plush hotel". The court heard Lynda only learned of the wedding, when released from a care home after spending time in hospital, because her daughter saw wedding pictures on Dunn's Facebook page.
Dunn, of Elderslie, Renfrewshire, claims he had invested the money with his new wife's company in the hope that Lynda would receive 3.5% profit. He said he went about investing her money after he, Lynda and her son Alan, a teacher, spoke about reducing her assets below £16,000 so she would not be liable for care home costs.
But Lynda, her children and Dolan said they knew nothing about the apparent investment plot. And Dolan said she didn't know it was Lynda's money and would never have accepted it had she known where it was really coming from.
Dolan said Dunn had told her the cash had come from an account he had in Jersey which contained his own money from business deals. But the prosecutor in his trial said yesterday that the retired builder had used Lynda's cash for his own ends.
Procurator Fiscal Depute David McDonald said Dunn's claims it was an investment loan were "nonsense, utter nonsense". He added: "Trying to persuade us he was honest and upfront with the Grant family and Karen Dolan is the last card that William Dunn has to play.
"A desperate attempt to evade responsibility for his actions. There's not a single shred of evidence to support what he says. It's lies. Lies from a man who has lied to his hospitalised ex-partner and to the woman he ultimately married.
"Lies from a man who has bounced money from account to account to mask the true source of the funds. Lies from a man who simply does not want to take responsibility for his own actions. There are more than 112,000 reasons why he's lying.
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"Taking all of that into consideration, you are drawn to the inescapable conclusion that William Dunn was using Lynda Grant's money as if it was his own. He's cleaned her out to feather his own nest and make his future brighter by ploughing Lynda's money into Karen's business and as a result committed the crime. Seven lies. £112,971.46."
Advocate Joe Barr, defending, asked the jury to acquit Dunn of the charge, saying he was legally able to invest money on her behalf. He explained: "He clearly did this with a view to minimising Lynda Grant's care home costs, but he did so in full accordance with his Powers of Attorney.
"The evidence shows Karen Dolan was fully informed about the source of the funds having been provided as a short-term loan, an investment, with an agreed rate of interest. Every investment carries risk. They can go up and they can go down. That's the nature of investment."
The trial, before Sheriff Bruce Erroch QC, continues.
