Bristol man Mark Lacey convicted of stealing cash from his mother in Knowle West

A MAN awaits sentence after a jury convicted him of stealing £7,000 from his mother.

Mark Lacey told Bristol Crown Court he had never stolen from his parents and had no need to as he could have just borrowed from them.

But he was found guilty of theft after a trial and given bail, pending sentence on a date to be fixed.

His mother Anna told the court she closed her £14,000 Lloyds TSB ISA savings account in 2009, and deposited it under the floorboards of her airing cupboard at her Knowle West home.

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It was claimed her son Mark went to the secret stash and helped himself to half of his mother's nest egg.

He denied all to police, saying his mother had "lost the plot" and his father was a gambler, Bristol Crown Court was told.

Lacey, 42, of Stonebridge Park, Bristol, pleaded not guilty to theft in May last year.

Sam Jones, prosecuting, said Mrs Lacey withdrew her £14,000 in plastic bags and, wrapping the money in tin foil, hid it under wooden slats at the foot of the airing cupboard in her bedroom.

Mr Jones described how Mrs Lacey would lend cash to her family, including her three sons, without disclosing the whereabouts of her stash. The court heard she checked the money regularly to ensure all was well.

But when Lacey was staying with her on and off, and left "home alone" in May last year, she told how she went to her bedroom and discovered half of her savings was gone.

Mr Jones said: "She called to her husband and Mark Lacey. Both came upstairs. Mrs Lacey confronted Mark and he denied taking it."

Police found Lacey's finger prints on a bank bag and tin foil, the jury heard.

When officers went to his home he directed them to £640 stored in a doll's house, explaining how he had taken that money out of his bank account.

He went on to deny stealing from his mother, but admitted his "back was up" and he had shoved some of the money on his mother's bed, Mr Jones said.

Lacey had told the jury he did not believe the money was his mother's, but she was storing it for his brother Wayne – as known as Steven – so it could not be found by police.