Police officers '˜embezzled £85,000 from widow'

An elderly widow told a jury yesterday that she was 'shocked and stunned' to find that large sums of money had gone out of her bank account after she entrusted her bank card to her son and daughter-in-law '“ both of them police officers.

The village of Gargunnock in Stirlingshire, where Mrs Rough lived. Picture: Geograph.co.uk

Gladys Rough, 86, said she had given her card to her daughter-in-law Jean Rough to get groceries for her, as there was only one small shop in the village of Gargunnock, Stirlingshire, where she lived, and she did not drive.

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

But Mrs Rough, who described 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” payments that were going out of it.

She said Jean, 58, who was in the police and later worked in a care home, and her son Andrew, also 58, a police sergeant based in Falkirk and married to Jean, had been the only people with access to her card.

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

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

Mrs Rough was giving evidence by video link at the trial of Andrew and Jean Rough, of Alloa, Clackmannanshire.

The pair deny embezzling a total of £85,705 from Mrs Rough, having been entrusted with her financial affairs.

It is alleged they took the money between September 2010 and July 2015. Prosecutor Sarah Lumsden asked Mrs Rough how she felt when she saw there was 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.”

Mrs Rough, whose husband died last year, added: “I always trusted them.”

She said earlier that she had given the pair permission to use her card for themselves “if they were short”.
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.”

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

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

The trial, before Sheriff William Gilchrist, continues.