Coroner in appeal to serial killer’s relatives

A coroner is trying to trace relatives of one of Scotland’s most notorious serial killers to see if they want to participate in his inquest.

Robert Black, who was convicted of four child murders but suspected of many more, died in a Northern Ireland prison in 2016 aged 68.

The paedophile, from Grangemouth, was found guilty in 1994 of killing Susan Maxwell, 11, from the Scottish Borders, fiveyear-old Caroline Hogg, from Edinburgh, and Sarah Harper, ten, from Morley. In 2011, he was found guilty of the murder of nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy, from Co Antrim.

At a preliminary hearing in Belfast ahead of his inquest later this year, coroner Patrick Mcgurgan said relatives should be offered the chance to give evidence. “I think all efforts need to be made to trace the next of kin,” he said.