Ralph Gibbs took elderly partner Carol Lisle from WA nursing home and drove her across Australia

An elderly man snatched his dementia-suffering partner from her nursing home and drove her halfway across the country until they were found close to death in 43C heat.

Ralph ‘Terry’ Gibbs, 80, faced court on Friday after sneaking out wheelchair-bound Carol Lisle, 84, from her aged care facility in Mandurah, south of Perth, on January 2.

Gibbs had a ute full of jerry cans and planned to take his partner of 15 years back to their home in Cairns, in far north Queensland, 5,000km and 56 hours’ drive away.

But police eventually caught up with them two days later, finding the elderly pair 90km from the Northern Territory border, exhausted and without adequate food or water for the trip.

Ms Lisle had been brought back to WA by her goddaughter Belinda Hodgkinson, The Australian reported.

Gibbs had met his partner for lunch at the nursing home before discreetly wheeling her out to his car.

Police found the pair in the same clothes they’d been in since they left, and Ms Lisle, who also suffers from Parkinson’s disease, has incontinence problems.

WA Police at the time shared a photo of an exhausted Ms Lisle who was being cared for by an officer before she was airlifted to hospital for treatment.

But police eventually caught up with them two days later, finding the elderly pair 90km from the Northern Territory border, exhausted and without adequate food or water

The 80-year-old had been charged with deprivation of liberty and endangering Ms Lisle’s safety. He pleaded guilty to unlawfully detaining a mentally ill person.  

Magistrate Raelene Johnston said she accepted Gibbs had ‘acted out of love’ in his plan to bring his partner back to Queensland, but noted he had ignored strangers’ suggestions to take her to hospital during the trip.

‘You placed your personal desire over the welfare of your partner,’ she told Gibbs.

‘You put Ms Lisle at significant risk, even though that was not your intention. You continued to place your wishes above her needs.’ 

Speaking outside court Gibbs said he feared he would never see his ‘sweetheart’ again.

‘I fear I might never see my little girl again. I dearly want her back to Queensland,’ he said.

Gibbs was given a suspended seven-month jail sentence on Friday and a restraining order preventing him from seeing Ms Lisle is now in place.

Ms Lisle who suffers from dementia and Parkinson’s disease had been with Gibbs for 15 years. Her goddaughter had brought her back to WA due to concerns for her health