Suzanne Pilley trial: Court learns of explicit emails

By JOHN ROBERTSON
Published on Wednesday 22 February 2012 15:23

THE man accused of murdering bookkeeper Suzanne Pilley was “agitated and shaking” when he asked about her empty desk on the morning she disappeared, a jury heard.

David Gilroy, 49, had been having an affair with Ms Pilley, 38, which was discovered by a work colleague through “explicit” e-mails they had exchanged, a court was told.

Helen Liddle said she had been asked by police searching for Ms Pilley to check her e-mails and she was shocked by their content.

Ms Liddle recalled the day Ms Pilley failed to turn up at their office in Edinburgh city centre. She said Gilroy had commented that she was not in, and he appeared agitated.

“He was shaking … distracted,” Ms Liddle added.

Gilroy, of Silverknowes Brae, Edinburgh, denies murdering Ms Pilley, of Whitson Road, Edinburgh, by unknown means on 4 May, 2010, at Thistle Street, where they worked for Infrastructure Management Ltd (IML). He also pleads not guilty to concealing the body within the IML premises, before transporting it to various locations in Scotland in the boot of a car. Her remains have never been found.

Ms Liddle, 59, of Falkirk, said she was IML’s head of financial administration. Gilroy was operations manager and was later promoted to Scottish regional operations manager.

Ms Liddle said she and Ms Pilley sat opposite each other, got on “very well” and met socially.

The office had a 9am starting time and Ms Pilley was normally punctual. Ms Liddle said she arrived slightly after 9am on 4 May – her train was late – and noticed that Ms Pilley was not there.

She and a colleague tried to contact Ms Pilley on her mobile phone and on her landline at home, but without success.

Just before 10am, Ms Liddle saw Gilroy approaching.

“He came to my desk to ask if Suzanne was in. ‘Is Suzanne not in, then?’ I said, ‘We don’t know where she is. We are trying to get in touch with her.’ She had not phoned in, which was unusual,” said Ms Liddle.

She said Gilroy was holding Allen keys, and he mentioned windows and security. There had been a break-in months before. He occasionally offered to do odd jobs about the office.

The advocate-depute, Alex Prentice, QC, asked how Gilroy had appeared.

Ms Liddle said: “Agitated. He was shaking. He was rattling the Allen keys. Distracted.”

That evening, Ms Liddle received a call from the police, who asked her to access Ms Pilley’s e-mails. She discovered messages to and from Gilroy and was “very surprised” at the content, agreeing that some of it was explicit.

“They were having an affair, a relationship,” she stated.

The trial continues.