Families demand change to parole rules for missing body murders

BBC News

9 hours ago

The families of two murder victims whose bodies have never been found have backed a bid to change the rules on parole.Arlene Fraser and Suzanne Pilley were the focus of two high-profile murder investigations more than a decade apart.Relatives of both women want the law changed in Scotland so that Parole Boards must take it into account if a killer refuses to reveal the location of their victim's body.At present the law states that failure to reveal the location may - rather than must - be considered when deciding whether someone will be released from prison.
The proposed change is contained in an amendment to the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform Bill which has been tabled by Liberal Democrat MSP Jamie Greene.Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the Scottish government remained "fully committed" to supporting the amendment.The families said they were "relieved" by that support.
Speaking during an emotional press conference, Carol Gillies said she felt guilty to be alive after the death of her sister, Arlene, at the age of 33.Arlene's husband Nat Fraser, 53, is serving a life sentence for the mother-of-two's murder and would eligible for parole in October 2028.Ms Gillies said that not knowing what happened to her sister was "a form of mental torture" and that Fraser had a choice to reveal what he knows."I feel that he controlled Arlene when she was alive and he is controlling her when she is dead," she added.Arlene was last seen on 28 April 1998 when she waved her son and daughter off to school from their home in Elgin, Moray.She then vanished without a trace.
Suspicion quickly fell on her husband Nat, who had previously assaulted his wife.He was later charged with her murder alongside his friend, Hector Dick, and a third man, Glenn Lucas.They went on trial in January 2003. In a dramatic twist Mr Dick and Mr Lucas were freed, leaving Fraser alone in the dock.Mr Dick, who became a witness for the prosecution, told the trial that Arlene's husband had hired a hitman to kill her, burn her body and ground up the remains.The jury found Fraser guilty of murder and he was jailed for a minimum of 25 years.The conviction was quashed in 2009 and Fraser stood trial for a second time in 2012.He was again found guilty and ordered to serve at least 17 years in prison for what the judge described as a "shocking and wicked" crime.
Suzanne Pilley was captured on CCTV as she got the bus to work in Edinburgh city centre on the morning of 4 May 2010 - but she never arrived at her desk.It would later emerge that the bookkeeper had been lured to the basement of the building in Thistle Street by her colleague David Gilroy.A court later heard he murdered her there and hid her body in a stairwell.Ms Pilley, 38, had recently ended her year-long secret relationship with Gilroy, who was described in court as possessive and manipulative.The following day the married father-of-two drove his silver Vauxhall Vectra more than 130 miles from Edinburgh to Lochgilphead, Argyll and Bute.Police used CCTV to map Gilroy's movements and found it took him five hours and eight minutes to drive from Tyndrum to Inverary - a journey which should take 36 minutes.
Gilroy, who turned his phone off to cover his tracks, is believed to have buried Ms Pilley in remote forest but despite extensive searches no trace of her has ever been found.The 49-year-old was jailed for life at the High Court in Edinburgh in April 2012.He was ordered to serve at least 18 years in prison and will be eligible to apply for parole in March 2030.During sentencing, Lord Bracadale told him: "I hope that the day will come in your life when you feel able to disclose that information and that may bring some comfort to her bereft family."
Suzanne's mother, Sylvia Pilley, said her daughter's life had been cut short."She really wanted a family and she was never given that. We miss her every day so that's really why we are doing it," she said at the press conference.Suzanne's sister, Gail Fairgrieve, said she lived with the trauma of Gilroy's actions every day.She said: "What the Parole Board need to understand is that his crimes are still continuing."Ms Fairgrieve also called for Scotland to go even further and follow the example of Australia where several states have a "no body, no parole" law.MSPs will debate the proposals next month and Victim Support Scotland hope the legislation will be passed before the Holyrood election next year.The changes in Scotland mirror Helen's Law south of the border. It is named after Helen McCourt, from Merseyside, whose killer Ian Simms was freed from jail without disclosing the location of her remains.Similar legislation, known as Charlotte's Law, will be brought forward before the next North Ireland assembly election.
Murders without a body
Other Scottish cases where no body was found include:Allison McGarrigle, who vanished in June 1997 and was formally declared dead eight years later. Paedophiles Charles O'Neill and William Lauchlan were later jailed for her murder.Lynda Spence, who disappeared in April 2011. Colin Coats and Philip Wade were found guilty of abducting, torturing and murdering the 27-year-old.Margaret Fleming, a vulnerable 19-year-old who was killed by Edward Cairney and Avril Jones between December 1999 and January 2000. Jones then continued to claim £182,000 in benefits until it finally emerged Margaret was missing in October 2016. The pair were finally convicted in July 2019.
Liberal Democrat MSP Jamie Greene told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that withholding the whereabouts of a body should be "an important part of the consideration" for parole.Greene said: "There are grieving families out there who have been unable to find closure throughout this process."And there are people, who they see that could be released from prison, that still know to this day where the remains of their loved ones are."I think that's morally indefensible. So do the families and many of the organisations that support them."
'Complex process'
Defence Edith Forrest KC told the programme she had every sympathy with the families of murder victims who had never been found.But she said she thought the proposed amendment to the bill would "make little difference to how the Parole Board approach such cases". "Rule 12 is specifically directed at prisoners who withhold that sort of information and whether they may take that into account. Almost inevitably that is exactly the information they would consider in the parole assessment."The Parole Board is there to assess risk, and that is a complex process, and something like that is exactly the sort of thing they would be looking at."Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the families had endured a "terrible journey".She said the Scottish government was "fully committed" to the amendment and there was "no risk of it being watered down".Constance said: "I want to see a strengthening of the law, a law that will require that the Parole Board must take into consideration if a prisoner has not disclosed the remains of their victim."The amendment is also supported by Victim Support Scotland.Chief executive Kate Wallace said: "It is a simple change of one word, but the impact on the families who have lost a loved one in this way will be enormous."