Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how Rogers plundered £54,000 from his parents’ bank accounts between August and November last year.

Rogers blew the money on a Paddy Power website before the cash ran out and the son, who had power of attorney over his father’s finances, applied for £90,000 in loans from a number of financial institutions.

He told his ill father that he was signing for a Payment Protection Insurance refund in order to obtain his signature to steal some of the money.

After the money was transferred into their accounts, Rogers then put the money into his account.

The court heard how in order to obtain one loan, he had to obtain the signature of his vulnerable parent Richard.

He tricked his father into signing the loan application by telling him that it was papers for a Payment Protection Insurance refund.

Rogers then continued to gamble until his mother was told by her local TSB branch that her bank account there had been “cleaned out”.

After finding a letter in Rogers’s bedroom in which he confessed to what he had done, the court heard how she confronted him at their home in Dunbar, East Lothian.

Rogers confessed what he had done and this prompted his mum to notify the police.

Rogers, of Belhaven, Dunbar, pleaded guilty to theft and fraudulently obtaining £90,000 before Sheriff Robert Fife.

After warning Rogers that he faced a possible prison sentence for his crimes, Sheriff Fife said it beggared belief that the TSB hadn’t warned his parents that their son was emptying their bank account.

Addressing defence solicitor Colm Dempsey, Sheriff Fife added: “I’m saying this in open court.It beggars belief. What systems did the bank have in place to have stopped this from happening?

“Why did the banks not take some steps to stop this before the account was cleared.

“I would have assumed that banks would want to protect money rather than allow it to be defrauded.”

Earlier, depute procurator fiscal Aidan Higgins told the court how Mr Rogers took early retirement in 2007. Then his employers gave him a £37,000 lump sum and a pension of between £1,200 to £1,400 per month.

Mr Higgins told the court that Mr Rogers was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2012 aged 57 and his condition deteriorated quickly.

The court heard that Jason Rogers helped set up on line bank accounts for his mother Carol. He had the log in details and was granted power of attorney over his father’s finances.

Mrs Rogers was asked to go to her local TSB branch in November 2016 and received some bad news about the family’s finances.

Mr Higgins said: “She was asked to attend at the bank to discuss transactions. She was informed that her [joint] accounts… had been cleared out.”

The court heard that Mrs Rogers was stunned and went home to speak to Jason.

When Mrs Rogers got home, she found a letter in her son’s bedroom in which he confessed to having taken £54,000 for gambling and she confronted him where he admitted using the money for gambling.

Adjourning sentence until next month for reports , Sheriff Fife said he could send him to prison, describing the matter as ‘grave.’