Profile: Andrea Gilroy: In witness box her refusal to testify came with a smile

DAVID Gilroy also was accused of assaulting his wife, Andrea, at their home in Edinburgh on various occasions over a period that stretched from more than a year before the murder to a couple of weeks after it.

Mrs Gilroy was listed as a prosecution witness, although the Crown team remained unsure until the last minute whether she would testify.

She gave a clear indication of her intention as she walked into the courtroom and took up a position in the witness box. She looked over at her husband in the dock and smiled, before declining to give evidence.

In light of her stance, the charge against Gilroy of assaulting her was dropped. Throughout the rest of the trial, Mrs Gilroy attended court at the side of her husband, and sat with his relatives in the public benches while his relationship with Ms Pilley was discussed at great length, and the evidence that he had murdered her piled up against him.

Other spouses will not be able to avoid giving evidence like Mrs Gilroy. When justice secretary Kenny MacAskill announced reform of “spousal compellability” which also applies to civil partnerships, he said: “For too long, spouses have been able to escape justice thanks to laws that mean their other half does not have to give evidence against them.

“This is not acceptable and has resulted in the past in people marrying their partners prior to trial, for example on a charge of abusing their children, just to avoid having to give evidence against them. Marriage is an important institution and should not be a means of avoiding answering awkward questions in court.”