A "FAMILY man" jailed for nine months for stealing more than £75,000 from his 87-year-old aunt has been ordered to pay the money back.

Bristol Crown Court heard Terry Pocock, 54, of Forest Edge, Hanham, stole the money to repay debts after convincing others he had power of attorney over his aunt's estate.

In October last year Judge William Hart told Pocock he would have normally jailed him for 18 months but believed the case was exceptional.

Yesterday a confiscation hearing established that Pocock's available assets amounted to £80,400 and as he had gained £75,381 from his crime he should hand that sum over.

The court heard Pocock drafted a power of attorney application to take over the affairs of his aunt, Marjorie Insall, in 2002 but it was never registered or agreed. However he told people he had power of attorney and took over control of her financial affairs.

In 2006, Mrs Insall was diagnosed with dementia and admitted to a care home in Devon. Her house was sold for £124,000 in 2007.

Mark Humphries, prosecuting, said: "In May 2010, Pocock wrote to the NHS trust that ran his aunt's care home and told them she only had £20,000 left in her savings and may need help paying for care in the future. A benefits officer looked into the matter and found out about Mrs Insall's house being sold, and found there was a shortage of about £75,000 in the pensioner's account."

Pocock first claimed the house had only sold for £50,000 then he claimed he had put the missing money into a bond but was not able to prove it and police were called in.

Describing her client as "a hard working family man", Tabitha Macfarlane, defending, said: "He believed he had power of attorney and started to use the money to pay for her care. It was unfortunate that he then got into debt and used her money without her knowledge to pay off his own debts."