Murder accused Jones told cousin Margaret was with friends

Murder accused Avril Jones told her cousin that Margaret Fleming was not missing but was with friends, a court heard.

Margaret Cameron, 58, from Glasgow, told the High Court in Glasgow that Jones said this while police were actively searching her Inverkip home and had launched a missing person investigation.

Mrs Cameron was giving evidence at the trial of Edward Cairney, 76, and Jone 58, who deny murdering Margaret by means unknown at Seacroft, Main Road, Inverkip, between December 18, 1999 and January 5, 2000.

They also deny obtaining £182,000 in benefits by fraud by claiming Margaret was alive.

Mrs Cameron said that she met up with Jones at a coffee shop at Glasgow Central Station in January 2017 to exchange Christmas presents

She told prosecutor Iain McSporran QC: “Avril said that Margaret would come and go and come back for money. Avril said Margaret wasn't missing she was with friends.”

Earlier in evidence before lunch Mrs Cameron claimed that Jones had told her t Margaret had stayed with her and Cairney for years.

But when she returned to the witness box in the afternoon Mrs Cameron denied this was true and said: “It could have been a misunderstanding on my part.”

Mrs Cameron also said that Jones told her someone had moved into the house she shared with business partner Cairney in the late 1990's and added: “Avril said she had moved out because they had fallen out. She said this in a letter or a phone call.”

She told prosecutor Iain McSporran QC that police came to her home on November 9, 2016, during the search for Margaret.

He asked her if she had then phoned Jones and she replied: “No, I didn't have any reason to.”

When they met in 2017 Jones told her cousin that police were searching her home and looking for someone.

Mr McSporran said: “Did you make any connection about the person they had in the house in the late 1990's and the person the police were looking for,” and Mrs Cameron replied: “No.”

The witness added: “She said that police or social work had come to the door looking for Margaret. She said Margaret and Eddie had been out for a walk and when police came to the door Margaret was frightened and ran away.”

The court was told that Mrs Cameron she stayed at Seacroft with Cairney and Jones for a couple of days in 2006.

During that stay she said Margaret was not there.

Earlier in evidence Jones' niece Sharon Jones, 23, a chemistry student, told the court that she and her sister Stacey stayed with her aunt and Cairney for six or seven months in 2007, while their mother Wendy was dying.

Miss Jones was asked if Margaret ever came to Seacroft during her time there and replied: “No.”

Her father Richard Jones, 53, who is Jones brother, said his sister told him that Margaret had gone away.

He said: “My sister said she had run away with a traveller and they had gone to Cumbria.”

Mr Jones was asked by Ian Duguid QC, representing Jones: “What did you think about Margaret,” and he replied: “i thought fair play to you, you've made a life for yourself.”

He said he last saw Margaret in December 1999 when he and his family moved into their new house in Inverkip. He said she read to his two daughters from a book of nursery rhymes.

Margaret, who is described as having learning difficulties although she attended mainstream school, was reported missing in October 2016, and it is claimed by prosecutors she has not been seen since December 1999

The trial before Lord Matthews continues.