Suzanne Pilley had ‘turbulent’ relationship with murder accused

A bookkeeper had a “turbulent” relationship with the man accused of her murder, her mother told a court today.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Suzanne Pilley thought she would find a lasting relationship with David Gilroy but he had started to tell lies and act strangely.

Jurors also heard that Gilroy became jealous when Ms Pilley met an old school friend a couple of months before she was allegedly murdered.

Sylvia Pilley, 69, was giving evidence on the second day of Gilroy’s trial.

Gilroy, 49, of Edinburgh, denies murdering 38-year-old Miss Pilley on May 4, 2010, in Edinburgh, or elsewhere, and hiding her body before driving away with it in the boot of a car.

Jurors heard yesterday that Gilroy, who had left his wife, moved into Miss Pilley’s Edinburgh flat in Whitson Road in May-June 2009.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC asked the witness if she talked with her daughter about her relationship with Gilroy.

Agreeing, Mrs Pilley said: “She was a bit confused about his attitude. She wanted to find someone to share her life. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life on her own.

“She thought she would find a permanent relationship with him but he began to tell too many lies and change arrangements they had made and never showed up.

“He really acted quite strange. He lived in the house but he said he wouldn’t go into the house unless she was there, which I found quite strange when he lived there.”

Former shop assistant Mrs Pilley, who appeared slightly tearful at points during her evidence, went on to describe how her daughter told her that Gilroy became jealous when she bumped into an old school friend a couple of months before May 2010.

She said: “It was just an innocent meeting and the chap asked her if she wanted to stop for coffee. She mentioned it to David Gilroy. He became quite jealous. I think she found it quite unreasonable that she wasn’t allowed to speak to anyone else.”

Mrs Pilley also recounted a time, in summer 2009, when her daughter thought she had lost her mobile phone.

“It was about three weeks before she found out that David Gilroy had hidden the phone. She was very annoyed because it meant she couldn’t keep in touch,” she told the jury of eight men and seven women.

“It was always a turbulent relationship. It was on and it was off. She was always packing his clothes, sending him away, then apologising and coming back. The relationship went on like that.”

Yesterday the court was shown a photograph of Ms Pilley which her mother said was taken during a charity abseiling event.