Family of Suzanne Pilley's murderer claim case was 'full of flaws'

The family of the man convicted of murdering Suzanne Pilley has claimed the case was "full of flaws and contradictions'' and demanded it be reassessed by a different police officer.

Miss Pilley, 38, disappeared from Edinburgh on her way to work on May 4 2010.

It is believed she was murdered in the basement of Infrastructure Managers Ltd in Edinburgh and her body buried in a forest in Argyll.

Her ex-boyfriend David Gilroy was found guilty of her murder and Miss Pilley's body has never been found.

Gilroy, now 57, is serving a life sentence with a minimum of 18 years.

For the 10-year anniversary of Miss Pilley's disappearance, Police Scotland launched an appeal asking for anyone who may have information that can assist with the inquiry to find her body but has yet to come forward to do so immediately.

Benny and Linda Gilroy - the murderer's father and step-mother - maintain his innocence and have now written to Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone to demand the case be assigned to a different officer for reassessment.

They have also accused Police Scotland of not allowing their own expert reasonable access to the original CCTV footage used in the trial.

In the letter, the family wrote: "How can the original officer have a truly open mind about this even if he wanted to?

"If he produced flawed evidence, he is hardly going to have the motive to expose that to public scrutiny.

"The flaws we wish our expert to check against the original footage are most obvious in relation to what was taken from cameras in and around St Andrew Square, Edinburgh.

"Although we do also believe some further work on the Argyll footage could show where the police report about that was misleading.''.

The Gilroys added: "We would also like to say that if we thought for one minute that David committed such a heinous crime, we would certainly be asking him to put the Pilleys' minds at rest.

"Since the 2012 trial, as every year has gone by, it has become clearer and clearer to us that the evidence given at the trial shows that the Crown theory was well-nigh impossible.

"At this stage, 10 years on from the events, we call on the Chief Constable to ensure that fresh eyes, from our expert and a new lead on Police Scotland's ongoing review team, give everyone a chance to bring this sad story to a close.''

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "We can confirm we have received a letter, sent to the Chief Constable, and it will be replied to in due course.''

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