A man was jailed for 16 months today after a court convicted him of taking advantage of his wife's elderly cancer stricken aunt to defraud her of more than €22,000.

Magistrate Doreen Clarke said it was unacceptable that 58-year-old, Edgar Bonnici, had taken advantage of 75-year-old Rita Borg in a time when she was most vulnerable because of her cancer. Ms Borg has since passed away.

The court was told that Mr Bonnici would help Ms Borg with the payment of her bills and she would give him signed cheques to make the payments however, it was only after she was admitted to hospital that she realised he had defrauded her.

Before being admitted to hospital to receive treatment for cancer, she had given power of attorney to another man, John Pullicino to take care of her finances.

Mr Pullicino noticed that there were some discrepancies in her accounts and after making enquiries 30 cheques came to light which were cashed by Mr Bonnici amounting to €22, 907.

The court found that Mr Bonnici had forged her signature on 13 of the cheques and made the rest out to himself. withdrawing an amount which was far larger than the bill which needed to be paid.

In considerations on punishment, Magistrate Clarke said: "Unfortunately, Rita Borg had died during the proceedings and so any other provision that the court could take as an alternative to a jail term, to assure that Mr Borg pays what is owed to her, will not have the effect normally desired and will not serve the scope".

Before jailing him, she said that it was serious crime and that Mr Bonnici had taken advantage of her trust in him at a time in which she was most vulnerable.