Shropshire couple 'did not steal from gran', court told
A man and his wife who say they borrowed thousands of pounds from his grandmother say they did not steal the money and always intended to pay it back.
Richard Griffiths told Shrewsbury Crown Court that he loved his "nan" with all his heart and would never have stolen from her.
He said each time he and his wife used her bank card to withdraw money from Moira Griffiths's account he asked her permission. And he told the jury that he was repaying her £40 a fortnight.
Richard Griffiths, 35, and Lorraine Griffiths, 33, cleaned out the 86-year-old pensioner's bank account and left her with a £3,000 credit card debt, a jury heard.
The defendants knew the PIN number for Moira Griffiths's bank card and made dozens of transfers to their own account, the court heard.
The couple, of Cordwell Park, Wem, deny two charges of stealing up to £9,000 from Mrs Griffiths from Monkmoor, Shrewsbury, between December 2012 and January 2014. Griffiths broke down in tears as he said: "My nan knew every single transaction.
"She said to me 'if I have got it you can have it, Rich'.
"She told me I was her favourite grandson. I was like a son to her and she was like a mum to me."
He said he had not realised how much money he had been having as he had been drinking heavily.
"I did not steal from her but I did take the mick," he said.
"I did not realise how much I had asked her for. I love my grandmother with all my heart. I wouldn't steal from her."
The jury was sent out to reach a verdict late yesterday.
