Inverkip murder trial hears house was “totally chaotic”

A murder trial jury has been shown photos of the “totally chaotic” cottage where a woman was allegedly killed almost 20 years ago.

Crime Scene Examiner, William Ward was tasked with taking interior and exterior shots of supposed crime scene at Seacroft, Main Road, Inverkip, in November 2016.

Edward Cairney, 77, and Avril Jones, 59, are charged with the abduction and murder of Margaret Fleming, 21, at the property or elsewhere between December 1999 and January 2000.

The High Court in Glasgow was shown multiple images of the surroundings which leads to the River Clyde at the back of the building.

The jury was shown the cluttered inside of the cottage which included two downstairs bedrooms littered with junk.

The rooms upstairs were stacked with bags, books and boxes.

One of the upstairs room's walls appeared to have been hammered away and led to the attic.

Mr Ward told the court: “The room was totally chaotic and it wasn't for living in.

“There was no sign of it being a habitual room.

“The rooms didn't appear to be inhabited at all.”

The court heard that when police arrived there was no room for them to move around the house.

A second scene examiner, Petra Sharpe, 49, photographed Seacroft between November 2016 until March 2017.

She said: “I was not familiar with the area but I did end up becoming familiar with it.”

Miss Sharpe's pictures of the exterior of the house showed it had collapsed and junk seeped out into the back garden.

The house sat five minutes from Inverkip town centre and was only accessible by one road.

Cairney and Jones are also charged with fraudulently claiming £182,000 of benefits including carer's allowance on behalf of Miss Fleming.

Both deny the charges.

The trial, before Lord Matthews, continues on Tuesday.