Joiner tells of 'smell of death' in Heather Stacey's empty home

COUNCIL workers described a foul smell in the Edinburgh flat where an alleged murderer chopped up the body of a mother of four.

Officials from Edinburgh City Council visited the flat, in Royston Mains Place, Granton, in December 2008, where Heather Stacey was tenant, after noting that the rent was in arrears, the High Court in Livingston was told.

It is alleged that Ms Stacey, 44, was murdered by her then boyfriend, shop worker Alan Cameron, in the flat in November or December the previous year.

Housing officer Elizabeth Milne said Ms Stacey's rent had been paid via the benefits system, but it had stopped.

She said she visited the flat with a joiner to change the locks and was struck by a smell as soon as they entered.

Mrs Milne, 53, said: "It was a smell I had never really smelt before. It was pungent and unpleasant."

She said the property appeared to have been abandoned.

Joiner Glenn Walker, 48, said the smell had struck him, too.

He said: "On opening the door there was a very strong odour. I would say it smelt like there was something dead in there."

Cameron, 56, denies murdering Ms Stacey but has admitted hiding her body for over a year in the flat before sawing it up and dumping the pieces.

The trial continues.