280:. In these interviews they claimed that Fleming was still alive and had been in contact with them recently. Jones claimed that she had been going to attend the benefits assessment with Fleming, who she said had refused to go, pushed her over and run away. Cairney also said that she had been travelling around Europe with members of the travelling community, using a fake passport and going by several aliases. He said she had been in Poland and was working as a gang master, hiring agricultural workers in the south of England and was involved in the illegal drugs trade. Cairney and Jones also claimed Fleming would come back occasionally to receive her disability benefit money from them.
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Upon investigation, it was discovered the last independent sighting of
Margaret Fleming was on 17 December 1999, when she had visited the brother of Jones with the couple at his house. The following week she was not present with Cairney and Jones at a family Christmas dinner. On 5 January 2000, Jones
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which had been identified at a young age. After her father died in 1995, Fleming began to live with a couple he had been close friends with and who he had named as her guardians in his will - Edward
Cairney and Avril Jones. Living with them at their house "Seacroft" in Inverkip, they became her
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Following trial, in 2019 Cairney and Jones were both convicted of
Margaret Fleming's murder and of perverting the course of justice on majority jury verdicts. They were each given a life sentence to serve a minimum of 14 years before being able to apply for parole. Jones was also unanimously
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meant
Fleming was required to reapply for disability benefits. Jones completed an application form for new benefits on Fleming's behalf which raised concern. It was then discovered that no one from social services had been in contact with Fleming for 17 years. When neither
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convicted of fraud and ordered to pay back £182,000 of benefits which had been claimed in
Margaret's name. Despite a painstaking search of their dilapidated property and its junk-filled garden, no trace of Fleming's body has ever been found.
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about 500 metres (550 yd) to the south of the village. In 2017 the property was sold. In
January 2020, planning permission was given to build two new houses on the site, with the house being demolished in early March the same year.
287:, charged with murder. The prosecution case alleged that Fleming was killed by the couple between 18 December 1999 and 5 January 2000, with the murder being concealed and Jones continuing to receive Fleming’s benefits.
97:(1 November 1980 – c. December 1999/January 2000) was a Scottish woman who was murdered by her nominated carers Edward Cairney (1941 – 2023) and Avril Jones (b. 1960) in the village of
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visited the couple's home. When police were also unable to locate
Fleming, a missing person's investigation was launched.
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392:"Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming, episode one, review: a rivetingly sad true story"
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In 2017, while still under investigation, Cairney and Jones agreed to be interviewed by reporters from
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The police investigation and subsequent murder trial were the subject of the BBC two-part documentary
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313:"Seacroft", the bungalow where Fleming, Cairney and Jones lived, stood on the coast, beside the
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claimed to her mother that
Fleming had left with a member of the travelling community.
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The garden and adjacent ground to the south of
Seacroft were littered with junk in 2011.
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348:"Margaret Fleming: Couple who killed young woman for her benefits ordered to pay-up"
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483:"Houses Approved For Margaret Fleming Murder Investigation Home Site"
373:"BBC Scotland - Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming"
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457:"Homes approved for site of Margaret Fleming house"
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240:full-time carers, with Jones managing Fleming's
16:For the Scottish countess and land owner, see
256:or social work were able to contact Fleming,
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410:"Margaret Fleming murder case stuck with me"
235:Margaret Fleming was born in 1980. She had
151:. Unsourced material may be challenged and
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215:Learn how and when to remove this message
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428:"Carers jailed for murdering teenager"
249:changes to the social security system
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149:adding citations to reliable sources
18:Margaret Fleming, Countess of Atholl
328:List of solved missing person cases
525:2000 murders in the United Kingdom
90:"Seacroft", Inverkip, from the A78
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540:Murder convictions without a body
535:Missing person cases in Scotland
398:– via www.telegraph.co.uk.
254:Department for Work and Pensions
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390:Singh, Anita (8 January 2020).
72:Homicide (manner undetermined)
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305:on 15 October 2023, aged 82.
298:, broadcast in January 2020.
283:In 2018 they appeared at the
164:"Murder of Margaret Fleming"
545:People murdered in Scotland
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57:December 1999–January 2000
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264:Investigation and outcome
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530:Female murder victims
285:High Court in Glasgow
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493:30 January
467:1 February
438:30 January
358:2023-05-08
334:References
309:"Seacroft"
175:newspapers
113:Background
103:Inverclyde
43:Inverclyde
247:In 2016,
132:does not
461:BBC News
432:BBC News
414:BBC News
322:See also
315:A78 road
107:Scotland
99:Inverkip
61:Inverkip
47:Scotland
189:scholar
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54:Died
36:Born
377:BBC
278:STV
274:BBC
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