Grant Dansie give evidence against father Peter Dansie, accused of drowning wheelchair-bound wife in city pond

A trial of a man accused of drowning his disabled wife in a city pond has taken a new twist, with their son giving evidence against his father, telling a court he wore a recording device.

Peter Dansie leaves the Supreme Court last week after a hearing. Picture: AAP / David Mariuz

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Helen Dansie’s son agreed to wear a police recording device, immediately after she drowned, while talking to his father — who stands accused of her murder — a court has heard.

On Monday, Grant Dansie gave evidence against his father, Peter Rex Dansie, in the Supreme Court.

Mr Dansie said he had been concerned about his mother’s welfare for years prior to her death, and had to appeal to the Guardianship Board in order to see her.

Asked if it would be “fair to say” he and his father were not close, he replied: “That’s fair to say.”

“I involved the Board out of massive frustration at not being able to see my own mother,” he said.

Peter Dansie is outside the Supreme Court last week. Picture: AAP / David Mariuz

“It’s the most natural thing in the world to be able to see your mother … it became a struggle to be in contact (and) we were worried about her welfare.

“(When I did see her) she would be dirty, she would smell unwashed, her clothes were old and dirty as were her shoes, which were too small.”

Dansie, 70, has pleaded not guilty to having murdered Helen, 67, on South Tce in April 2017.

Her body and her wheelchair were recovered from a 1.5m deep pond in Veale Gardens.

Dansie has repeatedly and publicly denied any wrongdoing, insisting he jumped into the water to save her after her wheelchair went into the pond.

Prosecutors allege that claim is part of “a course of deception and subterfuge”, upon which Dansie embarked to disguise the “premeditated killing”.

They allege Helen had become “a burden” on Dansie that he “was no longer prepared to tolerate”, prompting him to throw her into the water to drown.

On Monday, Grant Dansie said his mother had a stroke in the mid 1990s, which left her “a different person”.

“There was a mum before the stroke and a mum after,” he said.

“I was very close to her, but that bond wasn’t the same because she couldn’t interact in the same way.”

Helen Dansie died after drowning in a city pond. Her husband Peter has been accused of her drowning. Picture: supplied

He said his mother retained some limited upper body mobility and most of her long-term memory, but communicated poorly and “couldn’t remember what she had for breakfast”.

Mr Dansie said that, once he moved overseas to study and work, he would write to his mother but his letters went unanswered.

He said the family home, in Waterfall Gully, was unsuitable for her as it was on a steep hill and had no wheelchair access nor handrails.

All of those issues, he said, prompted him and his extended family to seek the help of the Guardianship Board.

“It was a series of applications — multiple, over a long period — relating to access, her welfare, her health and her finances,” he said.

“We were more concerned about finding a place (for her to live) where she could be stimulated, where she could receive physiotherapy, where she could hopefully have a cat.”

Instead, he said, his father placed Helen in the dementia ward of a nearby nursing home when her health worsened in 2015.

“We didn’t believe that was an adequate place for her to stay … she just had a brain injury, she didn’t have dementia,” he said.

Grant Dansie said he was “on a plane within three hours” when he learned of his mother’s death.

Upon his arrival, SA Police asked him to wear a hidden recording device while speaking to his father — and he agreed.

The trial, before Justice David Peek and in the absence of a jury, continues.