The grandson of alleged elder abuse victim "Auntie Em" agreed the home he shared with the 96-year-old was "far from ideal".

Patrick Hayward Junior, whose near-blind grandmother Wilhelmina Liburd was removed from the family home due to uninhabitable living conditions, told Magistrates' Court: "(The National Office for Seniors) asked us to take the carpets up, change the windows, turn the door to an exit and clean up the clutter."

He also agreed that when a National Office for Seniors (NOSPC) case worker visited the home she found cans of open food, unwashed dishes, stacks of books and papers, electrical cords running across the floor, mice and their droppings, dirty carpets and household items "all over".

When pressed he added: "Yes, it was far from ideal."

Mr. Hayward Jnr, who is in his early 20s, took the stand as a defence witness during a civil trial brought by nursing assistant Yvonne Dawson against his mother Rosamund Hayward, the adopted daughter of Mrs Liburd.

Ms Dawson, who took Auntie Em into her own Somerset home for several months while improvements were made to the family property in Upland Street, Devonshire, claims she is owed $25,000 from Mrs Hayward for caregiving services.

Magistrate Tyrone Chin ruled in April that an oral contract existed between Ms Dawson and Mrs Hayward regarding the care of Mrs Liburd. He must now determine whether Mrs Hayward owes the caregiver money. The case was adjourned until next week.

During yesterday's hearing Mr Hayward Jr. said he did not recall any mention of payment between his mother and Ms Dawson during a joint meeting and said Ms Dawson volunteered to take in Auntie Em.

He said: "We discussed where we could place her when the repairs to the house where being done and she raised her hand and said 'I will take care of her'. No-one asked me to pay anything toward the care. I do not recall my mother saying anything about payment."

As revealed by this newspaper a year ago, environmental health officers declared the house, on Upland Street, unfit for human habitation before Mrs Liburd moved out in late 2006.

NOSPC said the great-grandmother was at risk of elder abuse if she returned there to live with Mrs Hayward, son-in-law Patrick, her two grandchildren and great grandchild.

Mrs Hayward has never been charged with any criminal offence in connection with the alleged mental abuse and physical neglect of her mother.

A new law aimed at bringing abusers of elderly people to justice was passed earlier this year but is not retroactive.

Those convicted of an offence can be jailed for up to three years and/or fined $10,000, as well as having their name placed on the Senior Abuse Register.