Woman cleared of stealing cash from OAP and workmate

A domestic worker has been cleared of cleaning out the bank accounts of an elderly client and a colleague.

Prosecutors dropped proceedings against Donna Gifford, who had been accused of withdrawing £3,900 from the accounts of Linda Moir and Muriel Todd after obtaining their bank cards.

A trial at Paisley Sheriff Court heard claims that Ms Gifford, of Barwood Drive, North Barr, Erskine, had used Mrs Moir’s bank card at the ATM at the Spar store in the town’s Bargarran Square on May 15, 2017, and once on May 16, 2017.

On the same day she was alleged to have used the bank card at the ATM at the Post Office in Bargarran Square, and then at the Bank of Scotland in the town’s Bridgewater Shopping Centre, taking a total of £800 from her colleague’s account.

It was also claimed she had stolen a bank card, while working as a cleaner, from Muriel Todd, 85, at a property in the town’s Blantyre Court.

And she was said to have used that bank card at the Spar in Bargarran Square, and the Post Office there, between August and October 2017, to steal a total of £3,100.

However, Ms Gifford, 54, who had maintained her innocence throughout proceedings, was told this week that the Crown was dropping the legal action against her.

Procurator Fiscal Frank Clarke told Sheriff Frances McCartney, presiding over trial, that he was no longer seeking a conviction in respect of the case.

Ms Gifford, who maintained her innocence, was then acquitted of the charges and told she was free to leave the dock.

Earlier, the trial heard evidence from Mrs Moir who said her husband “monitored” their finances, and that she had received a phone call from him one day in May 2017 to ask if she had lifted any money from their account. She explained: “He couldn’t lift any money. “The amount allowed by the bank in a day had already been lifted.

“He wasn’t able to lift any money from the bank that day.”

Defence solicitor Peter Burke, representing Gifford, then asked: “You actually asked Donna Gifford to lift that money from your account, didn’t you?

“You were concerned your husband was monitoring your finances and you wanted that money out without him seeing you doing it?”

Mrs Moir denied the claims, and assertions his client had in fact been given her card and PIN number.