Woman who shot boyfriend in the head is jailed for life for 'cold-blooded' murder

• Caroline Igoe shot Martyn Barclay in the head with a handgun. Picture: PA

Caroline Igoe, 32, shot Martyn Barclay in the head with a handgun outside the Edinburgh home they shared. The 26-year-old victim died of his injuries in hospital on 17 January last year, the day of the shooting.

Passing sentence at the High Court in Glasgow, judge Lord Bracadale said the killer had left Mr Barclay's family "bereft".

Her brother Paul Igoe, 37, who was cleared of murder but found guilty along with his sister of possessing the handgun and attempting to cover their tracks, was jailed for six years.

Mr Barclay's family said their devastation would never leave them. In a statement issued after the hearing, they said: "We have had a long and harrowing wait to get justice for Martyn, and while no sentence will ever bring him back, we are satisfied now we know his killer is behind bars.

"All of us are devastated by his loss and that will stay with us for the rest of our lives, particularly as we watch Michael grow up without his dad. Martyn was loved by us all and he will forever remain in our thoughts."

Caroline Igoe had known her victim for about six years, forming a relationship with him three months before his murder, with him moving in to her family home at Hazelwood Grove in the Inch area of Edinburgh.

She and her brother were convicted last month by a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh.

During the trial, Caroline denied killing her boyfriend before mourning with his family "in an act of breathtaking hypocrisy". She claimed she was devastated when he was shot and said he told her there was a bounty on his head.

But a detective told the trial he did not believe the shooting fitted the pattern of a gangland hit. Mr Barclay's blood was also found on Igoe's pyjamas, with the stains suggesting she was close to the shooting. Prosecutor Alex Prentice QC said Mr Barclay's death was "an act of cold-blooded murder executed with a chilling military precision".

Lord Bracadale, who previously branded the killing an act of "great wickedness", told Igoe: "Martyn Barclay was your boyfriend. Very unwisely, he kept a handgun, but that did not mean that he deserved to be shot with it.

"That is what the jury found that you did, in the public street in the morning outside the house where you and he and other members of your family lived." The judge told Paul Igoe he had hampered the police investigation by removing the murder weapon. The handgun was found two months after the killing in woods near Craigmillar Castle.

Detective Superintendent Lesley Boal, who led the murder investigation, said the pair had "continually frustrated" the inquiry.

"Caroline Igoe needlessly took Martyn's life," she said. "At no point during the investigation did Caroline or Paul Igoe show any remorse for their actions or acknowledge the devastation felt by Martyn's family and loved ones."

The court heard that Paul Igoe was previously given community service and has convictions for assault, robbery and breach of the peace. His sister has previous convictions for dishonesty and malicious damage, and was on bail at the time of the murder.

Outside court, Igoe's parents, Joseph and Margaret, said they were convinced their daughter was innocent. Mrs Igoe said: "I'm absolutely positive she did not shoot Martyn.

"I was in the house, she was in the house, she was never outside with Martyn."

Gordon Jackson QC, defending Paul Igoe, said his client's contact with the gun had been "fleeting" and "spur of the moment". He said: "This is not a man who has been in any sense a serious criminal. He has been a pest at times, but has never been a serious criminal."

Mrs Igoe added that her daughter would be appealing the conviction: "I'm 100 per cent sure Caroline did not do it. Her daughter was up from 5am. She wouldn't have left her.

"Caroline would also have had to walk past me to get out the house."