Pensioner and former Dunmore business woman unsuccessful in case against bank

A DUNMORE pensioner and former businesswoman issued proceedings against her local Bank of Ireland alleging that money had been taken out of her account without her consent. at Tuam Civil Court, Judge Geoffrey Browne asked the woman to provide three samples of her signature and when he compared these to the signatures on the withdrawal slips, he was convinced that she had actually taken out the money from the Bank of Ireland in Dunmore. [private] But the case was not without its drama as pensioner Teresa Scahill said that she was acting in the interests of people who dealt with banks and particularly those who suffered from the onset of Alzheimers. The retired business woman said that she was shocked when she received her statement from the Bank of Ireland in Dunmore stating that she had withdrawn €500 in January 2010 and €150 the following July. She refuted suggestions that she had been in the bank on those occasions. Mrs. Scahill said that she was a customer of Bank of Ireland for the past 62 years. She ran a business in Dunmore from 1956 and told the court that she kept a close eye on her financial affairs. Mrs. Scahill instructed solicitor George Bruen that she didn't withdraw €500 from the Bank of Ireland in Dunmore in January 2010 and nor did she take out €150 six months later as part of a foreign exchange transaction. She said that she was on holiday in Spain at the time. CCTV was wiped She said that she had asked for CCTV footage of her being in the bank on those dates but this was not made available to her. She said that she was told that there was an ESB problem which resulted in the footage being wiped. The plaintiff said that she brought her complaints to the manager of the bank but got no satisfaction and it was because of this that she then referred it to the Financial Services Ombudsman. Mrs. Scahill said that she didn't make much progress in this regard either. Bank clerk Karina Laheen gave evidence that she remembered Mrs. Scahill coming into the bank in January 2010 and asking to withdraw money for the local bridge club but when she was told that a second signature was needed, the pensioner got agitated and became aggressive. Mrs Scahill had earlier told the Court that she had actually gone into the bank in December to withdraw money for the bridge club for their Christmas event. She was one of the treasurers and denied that this had happened in January. Ms Laheen said that she got another member of staff to counter sign the second transaction as a result of complaints made by Mrs. Scahill following the alleged withdrawal in January. Judge Geoffrey Browne asked Mrs Scahill to provide three signatures on a sheet of paper and he compared it to the signatures on the withdrawal slips. The judge told Mr Bruen that they looked very similar and said that he would probably be ruling against his client. 'I would love to give her every penny but I can't. I know that the Bank of Ireland has lots of money so I am making no order as to costs', Judge Browne added. In dismissing the claim by Mrs Scahill, he ruled that the Bank of Ireland pay their own legal costs in the case. [/private]