A carer jailed for the murder of a vulnerable teenager has died in prison.
Avril Jones, 66, was convicted of killing 19-year-old Margaret Fleming and collecting her benefit payments for nearly two decades.
Jones and Edward Cairney, 88, who died behind bars in 2023, were finally exposed after Jones submitted a benefits claim on Margaret’s behalf in 2016. The claim prompted questions because no one had reportedly seen Margaret since 1999.
Both were sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murder by a jury at the High Court in Glasgow in 2019.
Jones died on Sunday at HMP Stirling, it has now emerged. Because she died in custody, a mandatory fatal accident inquiry will be held in due course.
Jones was convicted of Margaret’s murder and of unlawfully claiming £182,000 in benefits.
Avril Jones was convicted of killing Margaret Fleming
The police search at home of Margaret Fleming in Inverkip
Margaret’s remains have never been recovered, and the pair took the truth about her fate to their graves. Extensive searches of the grounds around their bungalow failed to uncover a body.
Following the fraudulent benefits claim in 2016, police launched a search for Margaret. Investigators found there had been no confirmed sighting of her since a family gathering in 1999.
She had moved in with Jones and Cairney after her lawyer father died in 1995.
At the trial, Margaret’s mother, Margaret Cruickshanks, said Cairney and Jones attended the funeral and offered to look after her daughter, despite barely knowing her.
Giving evidence, Cairney insisted Margaret was still alive. He claimed she fled when police raided their run-down Seacroft home in Inverkip, Renfrewshire, and returned regularly to collect her benefits.
He also alleged she had become a ‘gangmaster’ and was travelling around Europe using a false passport, despite her learning difficulties.
The couple fabricated diary entries and letters in an attempt to make it appear that Margaret had left of her own accord. Her benefits, however, continued to be paid into Jones’s account without officials raising concerns.
Cairney died at HMP Edinburgh in October 2023 after suffering breathing problems and other health complications, including heart disease and diabetes.
After the convictions, detectives made a direct appeal to Jones and Cairney.
Detective Superintendent Paul Livingstone said at the time: ‘If you have any shred of decency, you will answer the questions Margaret’s family need answered so they can lay her to rest.
Margaret Fleming’s remains have never been found
Edward Cairney died in prison in 2023
‘Margaret was a highly vulnerable young woman when she was abused, neglected, manipulated and murdered. Her family and friends deserve the chance to pay their final respects.
‘Although her murder resulted in a conviction and two people are serving prison sentences, that does not mean we will stop acting on information about the location of her body.
‘It is vital that she receives the funeral she deserves and that her family can say goodbye to her.’
The bungalow occupied by Jones and Cairney, overlooking the Clyde, has since been demolished, with the site sold to a property developer.
A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: ‘When someone dies in our care, Police Scotland is notified and the death is reported to the procurator fiscal. Fatal accident inquiries are held in due course.’
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay, who confronted Jones and Cairney about Margaret’s disappearance while working as a journalist, said: ‘Margaret Fleming was a vulnerable and innocent young woman who ended up in the hands of two monsters.
‘With both of her killers now dead, the only tears that should be shed today are for Margaret. Cairney and Jones’s refusal to disclose where they left her remains shows they had no decency or compassion.’