Alarm was raised about missing woman 6 years ago, murder trial is told
A BENEFITS investigator yesterday told a murder trial she flagged up worries about missing Margaret Fleming six years ago.
Sarah Deegan, of the Department for Work and Pensions, was giving evidence at the trial of Edward Cairney, 77, and Avril Jones, 58.
The couple deny murdering Miss Fleming when she was 19 at their home, Seacroft, in Inverkip, Renfrewshire, between December 18, 1999 and January 5, 2000.
Mrs Deegan told the High Court in Glasgow that she visited the property on June 18, 2012, and spoke to Jones after Miss Fleming failed to turn up for a medical.
The investigator told the jury she was troubled about the visit afterwards phoned the social work department in Greenock.
Asked by prosecutor Iain McSporran, QC, why she had done this, Mrs Deegan replied: ‘I just felt something wasn’t right... I was concerned about Margaret Fleming’s and Miss Jones’s living conditions and state of mind.’
She added: ‘Miss Jones said that every time Miss Fleming got word about a medical she would say she would go, but on the day she would throw a strop and would just point blank refuse to go.’
Asked where Miss Fleming was on that day, Mrs Deegan said: ‘I have no idea. I asked to see her because I started to get uncomfortable about some of the answers I was getting. It was instinct.
‘She [Jones] said I couldn’t see Miss Fleming because she was ill and she wouldn’t come out.’
The witness, who described living conditions in the house as ‘awful’, told the court she explained to Jones that if Miss Fleming did not attend a medical, she could lose her benefits.
Mr McSporran asked: ‘Do you know if anything was ever done by social work, was any action taken?’ Mrs Deegan said: ‘No.’
Later, the court was told that a social worker phoned the police after being told Miss Fleming was eating from a dog bowl and selfharming.
Veronica Bennett, who works for Inverclyde Council, said she made the call after speaking to Jones on the phone on October 28, 2016.
Miss Bennett told the court that concerns had been flagged up to the social work department after Jones submitted a disability benefits claim on behalf of Miss Fleming, dated September 30, 2016.
In this, Jones claimed that Miss Fleming was banned from the kitchen of the house because she would eat from a dog bowl.
The social worker said she offered help to Jones, adding: ‘I explained we have a duty of care. I could sense she was becoming uneasy... I think she said she didn’t want any support and they were actually managing.
‘Avril also said that Margaret had picked a hole in her head and she hadn’t taken her to the doctor.’
The social worker said she felt an urgent visit should be made to Seacroft with a GP. However, docand tors at the Port Glasgow practice, where Miss Fleming was registered, refused to visit the address because it is outside their area. Medics at the Wemyss Bay practice also refused to visit because she was not a registered patient.
Mr McSporran asked Miss Bennett what she had done and she replied: ‘I called the police.’
Defence QC Ian Duguid asked Miss Bennett: ‘Did Avril Jones say this had all happened a long time ago?’ She replied: ‘No.’
The court also heard from benefits agency worker Alana McAtamney, who said Jones filled in a benefits claim in which she stated Miss Fleming’s hygiene ‘left a lot to be desired when she was caught eating out of the dog bowl’.
Mr McSporran asked: ‘What was it that concerned you particularly?’ She replied: ‘That there was no other involvement from any other services.’
Cairney and Jones deny murdering Miss Fleming by means unknown. They also deny claiming £182,000 in benefits fraud by pretending she was alive. The trial, before Lord Matthews, continues.
‘I felt something wasn’t right’
‘Eating from the dog bowl’