The site once held a bungalow where Margaret Fleming lived with her carers – and future killers – Edward Cairney and Avril Jones, who hid the teen’s death for almost 20 years
The land where a 19-year-old was murdered by her carers has been sold after being slashed in price. Margaret Fleming, who had learning difficulties, is thought to have been killed in the bungalow she lived in more than 25 years ago – but her body was never found.
Fleming lived in the property in the village of Inverkip in Scotland, with her carers Edward Cairney and Avril Jones, who managed her disability benefits after her father’s death in 1995. In 2016, changes to the social security system meant Fleming had to reapply for the benefits and Jones completed an application on her behalf, raising concern.
It soon transpired that no one from social services had been in contact with Fleming for 17 years and a missing person’s investigation was launched. Investigators found that the last independent sighting of Fleming had been in December 1999.
Cairney and Jones were convicted of murdering Fleming some time between December 1999 and January 2000. They were also convicted of perverting the course of justice and each handed a life sentence, and Jones was convicted of fraud, too, and ordered to pay back £182,000 of benefits she had claimed in Fleming’s name.
A search was held throughout the property and its garden, but Fleming’s body was never found. Cairney died in hospital in October 2023 while Jones remains in prison.
In 2021, the bungalow was bulldozed after being bought by developers, but the plot has lain empty for four years despite having planning permission for two luxury properties to be built. Earlier this year, the price was dropped from £350,000 to £332,500, and property agents McEwan Fraser Legal have confirmed the sale of the 0.6-acre site.
The agents said the design for the two 4000 sq-ft houses feature “modern materials, two levels of light-filled accommodation with private parking and private gardens”.
The listing page adds: “The ground floor of the dwellings feature four bedrooms, a large entertainment room and a double garage, whilst the first floor hosts a large open plan living space to include dining and kitchen area, utility room, an envious master-ensuite and two glazed balustrade balconies that will boasts stunning views over the Clyde.”
After the sentencing of Cairney and Jones in 2019, the judge, Lord Matthews, told the pair: “Only you two know the truth. Only you know where her remains are.”
He said: “Margaret Fleming was a vulnerable young woman with evident difficulties. She was in your care and you breached the trust placed in you.”
The officer who led the investigation, Det Supt Paul Livingstone, told Cairney and Jones that if they had a “scrap of decency” they would reveal where they left her body. He said: “I am willing to meet either of them so that they can tell me in order to provide some kind of comfort to her family and allow them to put her to rest finally.”