Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Detectives quiz Bristol residents
IT was the police knock at the door that revealed to householders their neighbourhood’s connection to a murder investigation more than 400 miles away in Scotland.
Many living in the Bristol suburb of Kingswood had seen the TV news reports of the case in Dundee and the arrest of 50-yearold Andrew Innes while forensics teams combed his home.
But residents were unlikely to have linked the investigation – centred on the disappearance, then the alleged murder of 25-year-old Bennylyn Burke and her two-yearold daughter Jellica – with their area. Until that knock came.
Officers from Avon and Somerset Police focused on the block of flats in Fairview Court where Bennylyn lived, and had last been seen before she, Jellica and another child were reported missing on March 1.
But their inquiries also stretched to the surrounding streets. A resident in one of them said: “I was watching the news on Sunday evening and they said a South Gloucestershire woman had been murdered and I thought ‘that’s near me’.
“Then they said Kingswood and then Court Road and the next thing, a police detective knocked on my door to ask if we had seen or knew anything.
“I didn’t know her or recognise her. The first I heard of it was on the news. I had heard people shouting at the flats in the middle of February and I think it was reported to the police.”
That Fairview Court three-storey block of flats, according to nearby neighbours also questioned by police officers, was understood to be social housing and was described as no stranger to the presence of emergency services.
Bennylyn lived on the first floor of the block and had last been seen there on February 17 before the alarm was raised at the start of this month.
Local residents were also asked if they had seen a blue Renault car, like one seized by investigators in Ardler for further examination.
Neighbours admitted recognising the vehicle would be difficult given the road is a busy thoroughfare.
Avon and Somerset Police declined to comment, stating there is nothing they can say publicly that has not already been stated by Police Scotland.
Innes allegedly used a hammer to murder Bennylyn and is accused of killing pre-schooler Jellica through “unknown means”.
Police have been stationed at Troon Avenue in Dundee since Friday, where cordons were put up around Innes’ house. Forensics officers continued their investigations over the weekend and police remain at the Ardler house.
Innes made no plea at Dundee Sheriff Court on Monday and is expected to appear again next week. Bennylyn has been reported locally as a Filipina national and is understood to have moved to the Bristol area around two years ago.
Officers from Avon and Somerset Police are offering support to Bennylyn’s next of kin.