Murder of Margaret Fleming

The garden and adjacent ground to the south of Seacroft were littered with junk in 2011.

Margaret Fleming was born in 1980. She had learning difficulties which had been identified at a young age. After her father died in 1995, Fleming began to live with a couple he had been close friends with - Edward Cairney and Avril Jones. Living with them at their house "Seacroft" in Inverkip, they became her full-time carers, with Jones managing Fleming's disability benefits.

The last independent sighting of Margaret Fleming was on 17 December 1999, when she had visited the brother of Jones with the couple at his house. The following week she was not present with Cairney and Jones at a family Christmas dinner. On the 5th January 2000, Jones claimed to her mother that Fleming had left with a member of the travelling community.

Fleming was killed by the couple between 18 December 1999 and 5 January 2000, with the murder being concealed and Jones continuing to receive Fleming’s benefits.

In 2016, changes to the social security system meant Fleming was required to reapply for disability benefits. Jones completed an application form for new benefits on Fleming's behalf which raised concern. It was discovered that no one from social services had been in contact with Fleming for 17 years. When the Department for Work and Pensions were unable to contact, Police Scotland visited the couple's home and were unable to locate Fleming. This resulted in a missing person's investigation being launched.

Despite a painstaking search of their dilapidated property and its junk-filled garden, no trace of Fleming's body has ever been found.

In 2019 Cairney and Jones were convicted of Margaret Fleming's murder and given life sentences. They were also ordered to pay back her benefits.[1]

The police investigation and subsequent murder trial were the subject of the BBC two-part documentary Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming, broadcast in January 2020.[2][3]

"Seacroft", the bungalow where Fleming, Cairney and Jones lived, stood on the coast, beside the A78 road about 500 metres (550 yd) to the south of the village.[4][5] In 2017 the property was sold.[6] In January 2020, planning permission was given to build two new houses on the site, with the house being demolished in early March the same year.[6][7]

• List of solved missing person cases