Three sisters planted a spy cam at their gran’s house because they suspected her gardener of trying to steal £40,000 from her bank account.
Footage from the device was presented to police as “evidence” pensioner James Heggie was plotting to transfer the six-figure sum from 93-year-old Jane Scott’s savings.
Mr Heggie, 77, went on trial at Perth Sheriff Court accused of attempted theft.
He was originally also charged with faking a signature on a will to claim a further £50,000.
But following two days of evidence, Heggie walked free from court after the case against him collapsed.
After prosecutors confirmed they were no longer seeking a conviction against the forged signature allegation – known as uttering – lawyers for Mr Heggie successfully argued there was no case against him.
Sheriff Jillian Martin Brown found Mr Heggie, of Castle Place, Perth, not guilty.
Granddaughter’s concern
The court heard Mr Heggie, who was originally a gardener for Ms Scott’s son, befriended her and regularly visited her home in Balhousie Street, Perth.
Ms Scott died in December 2017.
Her granddaughter Adele Macdonald told the trial she began having concerns about Mr Heggie earlier that year.
“It felt like every time I was at my gran’s, he was there too,” she said.
“There seemed to be an attempt to separate my gran from the rest of the family and create a growing dependence on him.”
Ms Macdonald said: “He would almost install in her that she needed him to be there.
“We were definitely getting pushed away. It was like coercive control.”
The health worker told the trial suspicions were raised when she found out her grandmother had cancelled her Sky TV subscription.
“She loved her TV, she watched it all the time.
“But we got a call to say her Sky had been cancelled.
“I love her but she wouldn’t have been able to cancel Sky TV.
“She said to me: ‘Jimmy told me I was paying too much for it’.”
Row over letter
In October 2017, Ms Macdonald received a letter stating her power of attorney status had been revoked.
“That came as a bolt from the blue.
“I phoned my sisters and said we need to go round to Gran’s.
“We went down and Jimmy was there, as usual.”
She spoke to her grandmother about the letter when Mr Heggie left the room.
“She had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.
“Jimmy came back in to the living room and asked about the letter and then all hell broke lose.
“He started shouting. He’s a big man and he’s quite intimidating.
“I held my gran’s hand and told her: ‘If you weren’t happy with me, you really should have said something’.
“She said to me: ‘I wasn’t allowed to say anything’.”
Hidden camera
Ms Macdonald added. “I said to my sisters: ‘We’ve got a big problem here’.
“We were worried that if he could get angry as quickly as that with us, what is he like with our gran?
“We made a decision to put a recording device into the house because we wanted to hear what was happening.
“We were nervous because it seemed like a breach of trust.”
One of the family planted a small video camera among flowers next to Ms Scott’s TV.
It was later moved to underneath a piano stool.
Asked by fiscal depute Michael Dunlop how she felt when she replayed the footage, Ms Macdonald said: “Horrified.”
She said in her opinion the video showed her gran being prepped by Mr Heggie for a phone call with her bank manager, to allow for £40,000 to be transferred into his account.
The sisters reported this to Ms Scott’s building society, then contacted police.
OAP was ‘very clear’
Social worker Laura Carse told the trial that she spoke to Ms Scott following concerns raised by Ms Macdonald.
She said Ms Scott spoke “eloquently” about her finances and volunteered she had contacted her solicitor and revoked her power of attorney.
Solicitor Brian Bell asked Ms Carse: “What would you say to the suggestion that this was a confused old lady who didn’t know what she was doing?”
She replied: “There were no signs of confusion.
“She was very clear about her financial affairs and bank accounts that she held.”
Ms Carse, 42, said Ms Scott said Mr Heggie was “gruff and curt” with her at first but told her: “I put him in his place.”
“She went on to say that he was very helpful and actually used the term ‘angel’.”
She added Ms Scott told her her granddaughters only visited her “when they needed something”.
