A caregiver who admitted stealing thousands of dollars from an elderly patient was allowed to change her plea back to not guilty yesterday.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo appeared to accept in his ruling that Gaynette Holder felt pressured into admitting the crime by defence lawyer Charles Richardson, who did not have time to conduct her trial.

The decision means Holder will now now go on trial after all, represented by a new lawyer. However, Mr. Richardson said after the case that he "vehemently denied" any suggestion that he "strong-armed" Holder into admitting her guilt.

The 47-year-old defendant faces 14 counts of stealing a total of $32,250 from former marine pilot George Welch, who turned 100 last October.

The offences are alleged to have taken place in 2005 when she was looking after him at his St. George's home.

Holder was represented by Mr. Richardson for 14 months leading up to a trial scheduled for March 3, during which time she maintained her innocence. However, on the day the case was due to start, Mr. Richardson asked Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo if he could withdraw, explaining he was unprepared due to having to get ready for a major Supreme Court case.

Mr. Tokunbo refused the request and warned him that if he did not reappear to deal with the matter later that day it would be a matter for the Bar Council, the governing body for lawyers, and he might find him in contempt of court.

Mr. Richardson came back after a brief adjournment to say the Bar Council had advised that he should not handle the case if he was not ready. The Magistrate refused to let him off and told him to come back to start the trial the next day.

On that occasion, Holder came back to court and changed her pleas to guilty, admitting 13 out of 14 charges totalling $16,000. The prosecution did not proceed with the last charge of stealing $16,250 in cash drawn on Mr. Welch's credit card.

However, Holder later changed her mind about admitting the offences, for which she faced a potential jail term. She came back to court with a new lawyer, Philip Perinchief, who applied for her to change her plea back to not guilty. The hearing of that application was heard yesterday, with the move opposed by Crown counsel Robert Welling.

Holder told the Magistrate she'd written to the Legal Aid office and the Bar Association to complain about Mr. Richardson. She alleged that he called her the day before her trial was due to begin, saying he had secured her another lawyer which she was not happy about.

Holder agreed with the prosecutor that after the Magistrate refused to let Mr. Richardson off the case, Mr. Richardson told her no-one would believe her version of events, and he did not rate her chances of success.

However, she denied telling Mr. Richardson that she knew she had done wrong, and denied lying to him about instructions from her previous lawyer, Mark Pettingill.

Holder agreed with the prosecutor that she admitted her guilt freely after considering Mr. Richardson's "frank and robust" advice overnight.

However, when Mr. Perinchief asked her how she felt about pleading guilty, she replied: "Not happy at all, because I knew I didn't do anything wrong...my plea was not guilty from the beginning."

She claimed the reason she admitted the crime was: "Because Mr. Richardson told me plead guilty it would keep me out of jail and I would get a conditional discharge."

Mr Perinchief said it would not serve justice for a guilty plea to be accepted when there had been "some element of duress some influence present" after the lawyer "waited to the eleventh hour to abandon this case."

Mr. Welling said the guilty plea should stand, as it had nothing to do with Mr. Richardson's reluctance to handle the case, but was based on "good, sound legal advice" he gave about Holder's chances of success. The defendant, argued the prosecutor, proceeded to "lose her nerve and change her mind" after admitting her guilt.

Ruling that Holder should be allowed to change her pleas back to not guilty, Mr. Tokunbo said: "This was a case of a lay person relying on professional guidance of counsel."

He added that Mr. Richardson's lack of commitment and preparation "clouded the case with uncertainty" before the change of plea and that "can't be right". The defendant, of Pembroke Park Lane, Pembroke, must come back to court next week for a trial date to be set.

Mr. Richardson did not attend the hearing. Invited to comment afterwards, he told The Royal Gazette: "I admitted I wasn't ready and I stand by that. The caseloads criminal barristers have to carry in this county right now is overwhelming and the code (of conduct) by which I operate says if I am not prepared to do justice by a client I have to be honest."

He added: "She was given careful instructions based on my assessment of the evidence as to what course she should take and she's now suggesting I strong-armed her. That, I vehemently deny. I did my duty as counsel to Mrs. Holder."

The Bar Association complaint against him has yet to be dealt with.