Murder accused admits he hid body for year

A MAN accused of murdering a mother of four has admitted hiding her body for over a year before chopping up her corpse and dumping the pieces near a city footpath.

At the start of a trial before Lord Matthews, expected to last two weeks, Alan Cameron, 56, denied he murdered Heather Stacey, pictured, at her flat in Granton, Edinburgh, between the end of November and the middle of December 2007.

At the High Court in Livingston, Cameron admitted he failed to report her death, moved her body from room to room within the locked flat at Royston Mains Place and concealed it there for nearly 13 months. He also went to check that the security at the flat had not been breached, in the knowledge that her body still lay inside.

He admitted he then cut up the body, wrapped the parts in bags and dumped her remains near Hawthornvale Path in Newhaven, Edinburgh, and other areas of nearby Granton.

He also admitted that over 11 months between November 2007 and October 2008 he made repeated withdrawals from her Post Office card account to convince the benefits authorities she was still alive.

As a result, he received disability living allowance, income support and tax credits totalling nearly 5,000 in her name. He also admitted sending a text purporting to be from her and over five days in December 2007 repeatedly pretended that she had phoned him.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice, QC, refused to accept Cameron's pleas of not guilty to murder, but guilty to attempting to defeat the ends of justice and theft.

Giving evidence, Ms Stacey's daughter, Danielle Williamson, 23, who grew up with her mother in Dingwall, said her mother had moved to the flat in Royston, Edinburgh, in 2007 and had a drink problem.

She said: "We were still close, but didn't see each other as much as we once did."

Mr Prentice asked her: "Didn't the police contact you to say her remains had been found?" She replied: "Yes."

Mr Prentice then asked: "There was an intensive police investigation after this, and this held up laying to rest your mother. Is that true?" She replied: "Yes."

Ms Williamson said she had never met Alan Cameron, and when asked if his name meant anything to her, she replied: "Not until now."

Solicitor advocate John Scott, defending, asked Ms Williamson: "You went to the hospital in November 2007. Did the hospital advise you to cut down on contact with your mother because of the problems she had had, and that it was causing you problems with stress?" She replied: "Yes."