A MAN charged after taking $9000 from his mother’s account while she had dementia believes he was entitled to the cash.
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Margaret Liggitt had advanced dementia and was living in a nursing home in Wodonga at the time of the alleged offending.
Her son, Antony Liggitt, had taken her EFTPOS card and made nine withdrawals at ANZ branches in Lavington and Albury.
He took the cash in $1000 lots between May 16 and 28, only five months before she died aged 80.
Sole control of Ms Liggitt’s finances had been handed over to her niece, Michelle Wells, following a hearing before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Antony was charged with nine counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception after the withdrawals were reported to police.
Albury Local Court was recently told he had been at the VCAT hearing and heard the result of the case.
But the 52-year-old appeared guarded during questioning by prosecutor Shannon Lewis about the outcome.
He frequently said “I don’t recall” or “I have no recollection” in response to questions from Sergeant Lewis.
She asked Liggitt if he knew his niece was given sole control over his mother’s finances.
“I don’t recall,” he said.
The Resolution Street resident freely admitted to taking the money, but said his mother had “insisted” he do so.
He said she had told him to take “all of it” after he told her he’d fallen on hard times, and said she had handed over the card and her pin number.
“I felt entitled to get the money,” Liggitt said.
He said even if he gave back the cash, it would just go into a pool of money to be divided amongst his siblings.
“It’s my money anyway,” he said.
“It’s a fact that I did take the money.
“I took it because my mother told me to take it.”
Ms Wells said her grandmother had been “quite incoherent” at the time of the alleged offending and would “babble”.
Her dementia was so advanced, she was unable to undertake a mental capacity test.
Her son said "she seemed fine to me".
"My mother and I adored each other,” Liggitt said.
Magistrate Rodney said he wanted to have a look at VCAT legislation before making a decision on the nine charges.
The matter will return to court on December 18.