A FRIEND of the late Margaret Fleming today slammed the 14-year minimum jail terms for her killer carers as she demanded they reveal what they did with her body.
Evil pair Eddie Cairney, 77 and Avril Jones, 59, were sentenced yesterday at the High Court in Glasgow but Margaret's former school pal Gillian Sherrard McCulloch, 38, described the punishment they received as an 'insult'.
Cairney, 77, and Jones, 59, killed Margaret, who was 19, between December 1999 and January 2000.
Gillian, who went to Slaemuir Primary with Margaret and is helping to lead plans for a community memorial, told the Telegraph: "Only fourteen years for what those two took from Margaret is an insult.
"They robbed her of her whole life and everything she had ahead of her.
"This is not justice for Margaret.
"I am shocked.
"The sentences are far too lenient.
"Both of them should be locked up until their lives end."
The killers only ended up caught because Jones had continued to claim £182,000 in benefits for Margaret.
When a fresh claim was submitted in 2016 the alarm was raised when officials could find no trace of her.
A huge search was launched by police, with Cairney and Jones going public with a series of outrageous lies as they tried to cover their tracks.
They claimed on national TV that the vulnerable young woman had gone missing, had been living as a traveller and was working as a gangmaster who was also involved in the drugs trade.
Gillian says she feels sickened by what happened to her fellow former Slaemuir Primary pupil at the hands of people who were supposed to be looking after her.
She said: "It is absolutely disgusting what they did to Margaret, and it was for pure greed."
During the inquiry police carried out a painstaking search of the dilapidated Seacroft property in Inverkip where Cairney and Jones kept Margaret living in squalor, ripping it apart for clues.
They also dug up the back garden of the ramshackle waterfront property but no trace of Margaret has ever been found.
Gillian says that Cairney and Jones - who maintain their innocence - should now come clean and say where Margaret's body is, so that she can be laid to rest.
She told the Telegraph: "They now been found guilty and they've been sentenced.
"Now is the time to say where Margaret is, so she can get a proper funeral."
Cairney and Jones were found guilty of the murder last month after an eight week trial.
As he passed sentence on the yesterday Lord Matthews told Cairney and Jones: "Only you two know the truth.
"Only you know where her remains are."
During the sentencing hearing Thomas Ross QC, representing Cairney, said his client maintained his innocence.
He said: "Mr Cairney continues to deny any involvement in the crime and, so far as he is concerned, he maintains that, to his knowledge, Margaret is still alive."
Iain Duguid QC, for Jones, said his client also maintains her innocence.
Meanwhile Gillian, along with Margaret's other ex-Slaemuir classmates Lynn Foreman and Jon Cox, is fundraising so that a memorial can be created in her old schools colours and more than £1,000 has been raised for it so far.
Pledges can be made online at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/margaretflemming
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel