Mark Austin accused of siphoning cash from trust fund
A man who vowed to look after a young girl's inheritance after her father died has been accused of using it to 'feather his own nest'.
Mark Austin has denied taking thousands of pounds from Jessica Howes's account over a period of two years.
He was put in charge of the trust fund after the girl's dad and his friend, Robert Kelly, died in August 2002.
Austin, a well-known council campaigner, was jointly in charge of the account which was opened in April 2004 with more than 15,000, along with the girl's grandmother, Betty Brown.
It's alleged he first withdrew 1,500 from the account on December 12, 2005.
Austin is then said to have plundered thousands more between January and December 2007.
Prosecutor Robert Bryan said: 'What this is really about is greed and dishonesty.
'What we will be considering is the taking of money by this defendant from a little girl.
'Money that was left to her by her late father. Money that was taken by the defendant over a period of time, really just to reduce his overdraft.
'This defendant bled Jessica's account dry.
'He even took the last remaining 1.35.
'He treated the inheritance like his own. He drained Jessica's account to nothing.
'We say that this defendant was utterly dishonest in his actions. He has taken the money from a young girl's trust account and put it into his own account to safeguard his overdraft. These weren't investments. What sort of investment can you make for 1.35?
'Throughout he was taking the money, feathering his own nest from the trust account and acting dishonestly.'
The court heard that when Austin was arrested in July last year he told police he had planned to repay the money along with five per cent interest and that Jessica's mother, Karen Howes, was aware of it.
But giving evidence yesterday, Miss Howes told the jury at Portsmouth Crown Court she had not spoken to Austin about any investments.
'He mentioned about being responsible and having liability, which I though was very strange at that particular time,' she said.
'He just said: "I will ensure Jessica gets all her money back". I took that to mean the money that was wasted through solicitors' costs.'
Austin denies one charge of theft and one count of fraud.
(Proceeding)
TIMELINE
August 2002: Robert Kelly dies when his daughter Jessica is aged six.
April 2004: The trust fund was set up at NatWest in Commercial Road, Portsmouth, with 15,863.40.
December 12, 2005: Austin is said to have withdrawn 1,500 from the account.
Between January 14 and December 12, 2007: Austin is said to have withdrawn thousands of pounds. Jessica is 11 .
July 29, 2008: Austin was arrested by police.
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