Doing the right thing by victims

Suzanne Pilley was murdered in Edinburgh in May 2010. A police investigation to find her body remains ongoing

I was delighted for my colleague Jamie Greene MSP that his amendment to the Victim's Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill, to prevent killers from being released if they refuse to divulge where their victim’s remains can be found, has been accepted.

We have grown used to seeing common sense changes to legislation being rejected just because they come from Conservatives, but for once the SNP has been able to see past partisan party politics to do the right thing.

Most importantly they have done the right thing by the family of Suzanne Pilley, the 38-year-old Edinburgh bookkeeper murdered in 2010 by David Gilroy, who has never revealed where he left her body.

Gilroy must serve a minimum of 18 years before being considered for release, but it is entirely appropriate that after “Suzanne’s Law” is passed he will remain behind bars until he breaks his callous silence.

The heartless refusal of murderers to accept their guilt and give up their secret, as Jamie said last week, just causes more suffering for heartbroken families, and I for one see no reason why they should enjoy their freedom while the anguish goes on for relatives who have been denied their right to give their loved one a decent funeral.

Such cases are thankfully rare, but as Gilroy gets closer to the date when he would have expected to be eligible for parole, then he should realise that the only thing preventing him seeing the outside world again is his own brutal indifference.

Doing the right thing by victims - Sue Webber

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