Margaret Fleming: Crown rejects money offer from killer

Cairney and Jones spent 20 years pretending Margaret Fleming was still alive

The Crown has rejected an offer to settle a proceeds of crime case against a couple who murdered a vulnerable woman in their care.

Lord Burns arranged proceedings against Edward Cairney and Avril Jones to take place in June.

Cairney, 77, and Jones, 59, killed Margaret Fleming, 19, between December 1999 and January 2000.

Jones then continued to claim £182,000 in benefits until it finally emerged Margaret was missing in October 2016.

• How do you solve a murder without a body?

• The teenager who was forgotten for 17 years

• The day I interviewed Margaret's killers

Her body has never been found.

Cairney and Jones, of Inverkip, Inverclyde, were jailed for life in June and ordered to spend a minimum of 14 years in prison.

The Crown is seeking £182,000 in benefits which were paid in Margaret's absence.

On Monday, Jones' advocate John McElroy told the court that his client has offered to settle the case against her but the Crown had not accepted the offer.

The proceeds of crime hearing will take place on 11 June.