A NEIGHBOUR battered an elderly woman to death with a rolling pin just days after being given a Christmas present for helping her with jobs around the house, a court was told.

Sandra Weir, 41, allegedly attacked and killed Mary Logie, 82, at her home in Leven, Fife, in early January .

Mrs Logie’s son, Ronald, 60, told the High Court in Edinburgh, where Ms Weir is on trial for murder, his mother always had a kind word to say about her.

He told the court that they gave Ms Weir a bottle of whisky for Christmas just a week before Mrs Logie was killed, to thank her for her help.

Mr Logie, of Yorkshire, said his mother would phone him every week and never had a bad word to say about Ms Weir.

He told prosecution lawyer Alex Prentice QC that his mother was an “independent” woman who enjoyed socialising with friends and going to pantomimes.

However, in recent years Mrs Logie had developed issues surrounding her mobility.

Jurors also heard that in recent years Mrs Logie started to develop issues surrounding her ability to cope with money. Mr Logie told Mr Prentice: “Money went missing and she could not explain it.”

Mr Logie told the court of two occasions in which his mother had problems with money.

The first was in summer 2015 when she visited Wales on a coach trip. The court heard that on the night before she left, she contacted Mr Logie to tell him that she had lost her purse after visiting a supermarket in Leven.

Mr Logie travelled to Wales to meet his mother as she arrived at her hotel. He gave her £120 in cash so she could buy things.

The court also heard that when Mrs Logie visited her son and his partner in Yorkshire at Christmas 2015, she was going to give the pair cards containing cash.

However, Mr Logie told the court that when she arrived at his home, the Christmas cards containing the money had gone missing. Mr Logie told the court that his mother was “distressed”.

He said that he carried out a search of his car but could not find the cards.

Mr Logie told the court that he took his mother home to Leven on January 1, 2016. He then carried out another search for the cards.

He added: “I took her back in my car on the 1st January this year. When I arrived I searched high and low and I could find no trace of the cards.”

Ms Weir, a prisoner of HMP Edinburgh, has pleaded not guilty to a total of eight charges.

Prosecutors claim that on various occasions between April 1, 2010 and January 17, 2016, at various locations in Leven, Ms Weir had heroin in her possession.

Prosecutors also allege that on various occasions between April 1, 2010 and January 5, 2016, Ms Weir stole a “quantity of correspondence” and a “quantity of greeting cards containing money”.

Among the other charges it is also alleged that Ms Weir stole “unknown” quantities of money, two rings and a bank card.

Ms Weir’s legal team have lodged a special defence of alibi in relation to the murder charge.

The trial continues.