Health concerns delay killer carers’ case

A CARER who killed a vulnerable woman is set to be psychiatrically examined after his lawyer said he wasn’t a “well man”.

Edward Cairney, 79, and Avril Jones, 59, are serving life sentences for murdering Margaret Fleming, 19, sometime between December 1999 and January 2000. Jones continued to claim £182,000 in benefits until it emerged in 2016 that Margaret was missing from their cottage in Inverkip, Renfrewshire.

Prosecutors have brought a proceeds of crime action against the pair in a bid to recover the sum. But at the High Court in Edinburgh, Cairney’s lawyer Mark Moir said his health had deteriorated and he was to be psychiatrically examined.

Judge Lord Burns discharged a hearing in December. The case is now expected to call in February next year.

MISSING Margaret’s body hasn’t been found ‘NOT A WELL MAN’ Edward Cairney, who is serving a life sentence. Picture: Police Scotland/ PA Wire