Twitter go-ahead for murder trial sentencing of David Gilroy

A camera will be allowed to film as judge Lord Bracadale sentences David Gilroy

Scottish legal authorities have granted permission for Twitter to be used to report the conclusion of a murder trial at the High Court.

The sentencing of David Gilroy, who killed Edinburgh woman Suzanne Pilley, is due to take place next Wednesday.

Earlier this week permission was also granted to film the proceedings.

Twitter use has been allowed before in a Scottish court but it will be the first time a sentencing at the High Court in Scotland has been filmed.

Gilroy was found guilty by a jury last month of murdering 38-year-old bookkeeper Ms Pilley.

She disappeared in May 2010 but her body has never been found.

Prosecutors believed that Gilroy, 49, buried his former lover in a "lonely grave" in a remote part of Argyll.

Gilroy will be sentenced on Wednesday 18 April.

During the filming, the camera will focus on the judge - no one else will feature in the footage except the macer and the clerk. Gilroy himself will not be filmed.

Live updating on Twitter from a Scottish court was allowed for the first time for the sentencing of former MSP Tommy Sheridan in January 2011.

However, guidance issued at the end of last year confirmed journalists in Scotland would not be allowed to use live text-based communication without specific clearance.

Journalists south of the border have been told by the Lord Chief Justice to "twitter as much as you like".