Alleged elder abuse victim "Auntie Em" clung onto a nursing assistant and cried as she told how she had prayed for someone to come and "rescue her", a court heard yesterday.

Yvonne Dawson, who is suing Auntie Em's adopted daughter Rosamund Hayward for $25,000, told Magistrates' Court about the first time she met 95-year-old widow Wilhelmina Liburd during a civil hearing in front of Magistrate Tyrone Chin.

She said: "She latched onto me and started crying and said 'please don't leave me' because she's been praying that someone would come and rescue her, she said."

The Royal Gazette revealed last September howAuntie Em was removed from appalling living conditions and taken in by Ms Dawson to her own home in Pleasantville Lane, Sandys, for several months.

This newspaper reported how the National Office for Seniors and the Physically Challenged (NOSPC) investigated the case and raised concerns about suspected elder abuse.

Mrs. Liburd is now in the Continuing Care Unit at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital after having part of a leg amputated due to gangrene.

Mother-of-two Ms Dawson, 40, claims Mrs. Hayward — who has been accused of neglect and emotional abuse of her mother — owes her money for looking after Mrs. Liburd after the pair agreed on a contract. Mrs. Hayward disputes the claim.

Ray DeSilva, representing the daughter, said yesterday that the case hinged on whether or not a contract was agreed.

He referred to a meeting held at the NOSPC on November 23, 2006 during which it was decided that Auntie Em should be "removed immediately" from her home on Upland Street, Devonshire, because environmental health officers had deemed it unfit for habitation — a conclusion Mrs. Hayward disagreed with.

Mr. DeSilva said his client denied that during that meeting she agreed to pay for the costs while her mother was living with Ms Dawson. "At no time did the plaintiff raise the issue of any charges," he said. "The defendant states that she did not agree to contribute to any costs of care for Mother."

He claimed Ms Dawson agreed her hours and fee with Auntie Em's nephew Stephen Woodley before ever meeting his client.

Ms Dawson, giving evidence, said she discussed how she would be paid when first recruited with Mrs. Liburd, Mrs. Hayward and Mr. Woodley.

She said Mrs. Liburd told her: "I don't have to worry because this is her home and she will do everything so I can be paid to look after her because she was lonely and left alone most times." Ms Dawson said she gave the daughter a contract but it was never returned to her.

The caregiver also alleged that when she left instructions for Mrs. Hayward on an evening they were never followed and Mrs. Liburd developed bed sores due to neglect.

The case continues today but is likely to be adjourned to ensure that NOSPC case manager Dennika Williams, who is on vacation but was at the November 2006 meeting, can give evidence.