Case History
Summary of time line:
4th May 2010 - Suzanne Pilley disappears
5th-19th May - Enquiry which is said to be missing person enquiry commences with CID led team of some 60 members being assembled from the early hours of 6th May 2010 onwards.
19th May - Police say the enquiry has become a murder enquiry
4th -21th May - David Gilroy voluntarily gives in the region of 40-50 hours of help/interview to the police about Suzanne Pilley, what he knows of her life and friends, and his movements over 1-5 May – at no time is he cautioned. This includes describing in detail (and mapping) his travel on 5th May including numerous stops.
23rd June 2010 - David is charged with the murder of Suzanne Pilley
24th June - David appears in sheriff court and bail granted
May-August 2010 - Some six searches of the Argyll Forest Area are made and appeals for witnesses to the movements of a silver family car (ie David’s Vectra). Although a number of people come forward none of these provide evidence which is sustainable
June 2010 - Three reconstruction journeys are carried out by the police which show that a non- stop timing for each leg of the journey is approximately three hours – said to be two hours less than the time David took on each of the outward and return legs of the journey.
June 2010- November 2011 - Enquiries continue with extension of time granted on two occasions
9 November 2011 - David makes his first appearance in open court at the High Court in Glasgow. He is charged with killing Suzanne Pilley, 38, on May 4 2010 in Edinburgh or elsewhere and is also accused of trying to cover up the office worker’s death. He denies the charges. A trial date is set for February 20 2012 at the High Court in Edinburgh. At this stage other charges of breach of the peace, assault and an offence under the Computer Misuse Act are added to the original charges.
Pre trial evidential hearings 21st December 2011 9th- - 13th January 2012, 16th January – 20th January 26th January and 30th January
February 20, 2012 Nearly 22 months on from the alleged crime David goes on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh accused of murdering Miss Pilley.
March 9 - The prosecution closes its case, withdrawing three separate charges against David: breach of the peace, assault and an offence under the Computer Misuse Act, meaning David is acquitted of those charges.
Case History
March 13 - The jury retires to consider its verdict.
March 15 2012 - Guilty verdict returned by a majority of the jury on charges of murder and defeating the ends of justice.
April 18th 2012 - David sentenced to minimum term of 18 years
April 2012 - Appeal lodged on three grounds
• That David had been interviewed as a witness on 3 occasions 6th-8th May when he should have been treated as a suspect entitled to a caution which he did not receive
• That some members of the jury had received copies of an expert witness report which were not redacted as agreed with the Defence team to eliminate statements prejudicial to David’s Case in relation to the injuries recorded in the photographs
• Matters to do with the Judge’s directions about hearsay evidence at the trial The first two grounds went forward to a full hearing
20 December 2012 - Both grounds rejected at end of Appeal Court Hearing. Immediate leave was sought to appeal ground one to the United Kingdom Supreme Court but had to await the publication of the Opinion in January 2013. Leave was refused in March 2013 but an appeal made in any event under a ‘devolution note’ which allows ECHR matters to be appealed without permission from Scottish judges.
2nd February 2014 - UKSC application to appeal rejected – the brief half page note of rejection said that the point of law had already been determined in the case of Ambrose v HMA 2012. We have read these and the circumstances of the Ambrose case (and the others associated with it) seem to be different in some important respects from those which David experienced.
The Scottish HCJ judges had said in their 2013 Opinion that the case against David was in any event ‘overwhelming’ - something which we find totally incomprehensible as there was no body, no forensic evidence of any description relating to any of the strands of evidence, no witnesses – and, when properly and clearly examined, an impossibly small window of time in which to commit the crime in the way described by the prosecution and cover it up – all leaving no trace of anything which remotely begins to stand up to a test of ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ . In addition the verdict was returned on the third day of the jury’s consideration and was by a majority - The UKSC Judges seemed to reflect this in stating that there would have been a ‘strong circumstantial case’ against David without his statements.
16th November 2014 - Application submitted for review of conviction by Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission
January 2015 - Appeal accepted by SCCRC for full Review.