NO JUSTICE FOR MURDERED MUM
Found dead in Spain, the son facing a second trial for killing his mother more than 19 years ago
A MAN who had been due to stand trial for a second time accused of murdering his mother 19 years ago has been found dead in a Spanish tourist resort.
Sean Flynn, 38, was expected to appear at the High Court in Livingston, West Lothian, accused of murdering Louise Tiffney in 2002, but he failed to arrive and a warrant for his arrest was issued on Tuesday.
He had been set to stand trial again after being cleared in 2005 when a jury returned a not proven verdict.
Prosecutors launched a fresh case against him under changes to the double jeopardy laws, which allow new proceedings in some circumstances – for example if more evidence is found.
Flynn fell to his death from an apartment block in Spain on Thursday – robbing Miss Tiffney’s relatives of any chance of getting justice.
Spanish police have yet to make an official comment, but one source said they believed a ‘possible suicide’ which occurred in Peniscola in the province of Castellon, on the east coast north of
‘Investigated as probable suicide’
Valencia, was connected. The insider said: ‘Civil Guard officers were called to a residential estate yesterday after neighbours saw a man lying in a pool of blood on the ground.
‘It is being investigated as a probable suicide. His body was taken away at around 8pm.
‘It appears he may have jumped to his death but that is still under investigation.’
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘We were notified by Spanish police on Thursday about the death of a 38-year-old man in the Alicante region.
‘Formal identification is still to be carried out. However, the family of Sean Flynn have been informed.
‘We will continue to work with the Spanish police to establish the full circumstances, but at this time the death is not believed to be suspicious.’
In a statement, Flynn’s solicitor Aamer Anwar said he was advised yesterday morning Flynn ‘was according to the police found dead in Spain, after taking his own life’.
He added: ‘Until recently Mr Flynn had resided in Berlin. Any loss of life is a tragedy, Sean Flynn’s next of kin has been informed and there will be no further comment.’
Mother-of-two Miss Tiffney, 43, disappeared from her home in Dean Village, Edinburgh, on May 27, 2002.
Her remains were found in a shallow grave near a stately home in Longniddry, East Lothian, in April 2017. Flynn had been due to stand trial accused of murdering his mother and attempting to defeat the ends of justice by putting her body in the boot of a car, driving to a wooded area and disposing of it.
At a previous hearing in January, the QC representing him said Flynn denied the charges.
Flynn, who used his father Keith’s surname, was cleared by a jury of murdering his mother following a trial in 2005, having denied the charge against him.
Prosecutors applied for permission for a retrial under double jeopardy legislation, which came into force in 2011 and allows a person to be retried for a crime for which they were previously acquitted.
Judges had quashed the previous verdict and authorised a fresh prosecution in January last year.
Flynn was jailed in June 2002 after admitting to causing the deaths of two friends in a car crash.
His cousin Paul Ross and Christopher Magee, who were both 17, were killed and another friend was injured in the incident in Mid Calder, West Lothian, on January 14, 2001.
A Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) spokesman said: ‘COPFS are aware of the reports concerning the death of Sean Flynn and are awaiting official confirmation from the Spanish authorities.’
Last night Scottish Tory community safety minister Russell Findlay said Flynn’s ‘apparent suicide means there will be no justice for Louise Tiffney’.
Mr Findlay added: ‘His death raises questions about the decision to grant bail, the conditions of bail and how significant time and criminal justice resources were spent on preparing for a trial that will not happen.’
Scotland’s centuries-old double jeopardy law was reformed in 2011. The legislation set out conditions whereby an accused can be retried for a crime for which they were previously acquitted, with the authority of High Court judges needed.
A second trial can now be permitted ‘in very serious cases where, after an acquittal, compelling new evidence emerges to substantially strengthen the case against the accused’. Retrials can also be allowed in cases where the original trial was ‘tainted’, for example, by intimidation or where, after an acquittal, evidence becomes available that the acquitted person has admitted the offence.
In November 2014, Angus Sinclair was convicted of the 1977 World’s End pub murders, following reform of the double jeopardy law.
The fresh prosecution was launched as a result of DNA advances since his first, abortive trial in 2007.
At the High Court in Livingston, Lord Matthews said the terms ‘evil’ and ‘monster’ were inadequate for Sinclair, who had left the bodies of Christine Eadie and Helen Scott, both 17, to rot ‘like carrion’.
The judge ordered him to spend a minimum of 37 years in jail for the crimes – the same time the families of Christine and Helen had been waiting for justice.
The teenagers were targeted by Sinclair and his brother-in-law Gordon Hamilton in Edinburgh’s World’s End pub on October 15, 1977.
‘Questions about bail conditions’