The grandson of alleged elder abuse victim "Auntie Em" denied yesterday that she ever ate cockroach-infested food, was forbidden from using the bathtub or was uncomfortable around her son-in-law.

Patrick Hayward Junior, whose 96-year-old near-blind grandmother Wilhelmina Liburd was removed from the family home due to uninhabitable living conditions, told Magistrates' Court: "There was definitely never roaches in my grandmother's food while she was eating. Even though she has poor eyesight, I'm sure she'd know that she was eating something other than food."

Mr. Hayward Jnr, who is known as PJ and 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.

Mr. Hayward Jnr told the court that the issue of how Ms Dawson would be paid was not discussed at a meeting of all parties at the National Office for Seniors (NOSPC) and that his mother did not offer to pay for charges.

The two sides spent much of yesterday trying to negotiate a settlement outside of the courtroom but failed to come to an agreement.

When the hearing resumed mid-afternoon, Mr. Hayward Jnr was asked a series of questions by his mother's lawyer Ray DeSilva concerning allegations about the state of the family home and the care of Auntie Em.

He said there was always someone to watch over her, except during the day when everyone was at work. And he refuted a claim that everyone in the house except his grandmother drank bottled water but she had to drink the tap water, which was later found to contain E. coli bacteria.

Of an allegation that she was prevented from using the bathtub, Mr. Hayward Jnr said: "I have never known my grandmother having been forbid to do anything in the home and when I asked her about the bathtub situation, when I heard about it, she told me it's her choice."

He said he did not remember her falling from her bed sometime in October or November 2006 and him having to lift her. Nor did he recall his grandmother ever complaining about his father, Patrick Hayward Senior, being in the house.

Mr. Hayward Jnr revealed that when improvements to the family home were being carried out, his sister's baby son also had to be moved elsewhere.

Mr. DeSilva asked him: "Did Mrs. Liburd return to live at the property?" He replied: "No, she hasn't moved back. There was no reason why she wasn't returned."

The Royal Gazette revealed a year ago how Auntie Em was removed from the Upland Street home in late 2006 because the filthy, cluttered conditions became detrimental to her health. She is now in the Continuing Care Unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

NOSPC case manager Dennika Williams, who appeared as a defence witness on Monday, wrote to Mrs. Hayward on February 20, 2007 to confirm that some improvements had been made but more were needed.

"There has been much concern over Ms Liburd returning to her home to endure both psychological and emotional abuse and also the reoccurrence of the residence returning to an uninhabitable state after renovations," she wrote. "These concerns constitute a form of elder abuse."

The case was adjourned by Magistrate Tyrone Chin until next Tuesday.