Skull found at Gogar Mount House on Edinburgh's outskirts

POLICE are investigating the discovery of human remains in the grounds of a property on Edinburgh's outskirts.
Police watch over a forensic tent. Pic: Ian RutherfordPolice watch over a forensic tent. Pic: Ian Rutherford
Police watch over a forensic tent. Pic: Ian Rutherford

The remains - reportedly a woman’s skull - were found off Gogarstone Road in Edinburgh.

Several holes of Gogarburn Golf Club were shut as teams searched the area following Saturday’s discovery.

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The property in question is the 19th century manor Gogar Mount House, according to the Daily Record.

The six-bedroom home, set on a 22-acre estate, sold for £4 million a decade ago and in recent years was available to rent for £4,000 a month.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Officers were called to Gogarstone Road at around 4pm on Saturday following the discovery of human remains within the grounds of a property.

“A detailed forensic examination is now under way to establish the full circumstances surrounding this, and further updates will be provided when available.”

Golf club secretary Kenneth Brown told the Record: “The police expanded the search on to the golf course on Monday.

“We’ve got scrubland between the ninth fairway and the estate boundary.

“We’ve closed the seventh, eighth and ninth holes while they’re here.”

It is not known how long the remains had been on the property before they were uncovered.

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Police said inquiries were at an early stage and the circumstances behind the find are not yet known.

A white forensic tent has been erected beside a cluster of trees near the ninth hole of the golf course.

The tent – which can be seen from the pavement of the A8 Glasgow Road – was today being guarded by two police officers.

There was no official police tape, however officers told the Evening News that no-one was allowed access to the green as it was being treated as a “locus”.

The popular 12-hole course – which is one of the city’s newest golf clubs, dating back to just 1974 – is neighboured by Gogar Mount House to the west, and the RBS headquarters complex to the east.

Several of its holes cover the site of a 17th-century skirmish between the forces of Oliver Cromwell and General Leslie, who commanded Charles II’s Scottish forces.

Despite this, the club’s website boasts the course “has an air of peace and tranquillity”.

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Edinburgh News crime coverage
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Dubbed the “Blackhill Butcher”, Hamilton, 53, became infamous for a string of sadistic crimes including torturing and raping teenagers.

The criminal had a fierce reputation as a drugs kingpin and gangland enforcer, and had been on the police’s most wanted list before he was jailed in 2000 for a series of sickening offences, including drug dealing, torture, abduction and sodomy.

Following his release from prison in September 2014, he had broken the terms of his parole and vanished on April 16.

His hacked-up remains were found by a dog walker in woods near the B7015 in West Calder on December 17 – with the bones later identified on Christmas Eve. It is thought he was killed shortly after he was last seen in Glasgow eight months previously.

The full circumstances surrounding his murder are still unknown.