Suzanne Pilley's ex-lover appears in court

THE former lover of missing office worker Suzanne Pilley appeared in court yesterday charged with her murder.

David Gilroy, 47, was released on bail after appearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court charged with murder and breach of the peace.

Gilroy, who previously said he had a relationship with Ms Pilley until January this year, was detained by police on Wednesday and charged later that evening.

Gilroy, from Edinburgh, made no plea or declaration at a brief court hearing.

Ms Pilley, from the Stenhouse area of Edinburgh, failed to turn up for work in the city centre more than seven weeks ago, on 4 May.

A murder inquiry was launched when police found CCTV footage of the 38-year-old bookkeeper outside her Thistle Street office on the morning she vanished.

They believed she had been killed and her body dumped in remote Argyll countryside.

Within days of her disappearance, police said they were "gravely" concerned for her safety. Her parents, Robert and Sylvia, spoke of the week she went missing as being their "worst nightmare".