A pensioner who murdered a vulnerable woman in a £182,000 benefits scam is set to ‘resolve’ a proceeds of crime action brought against him by prosecutors.
Advocate Niall McCluskey said on Monday that his client Edward Cairney, 79, wanted to resolve the action.
Prosecutors want cash from Cairney and his sidekick Avril Jones, 61, following their c onvictions for murder.
The pair were jailed for life for killing Margaret Fleming in Inverkip, Inverclyde.
The duo were supposed to look after Margaret. But Jones continued to claim £182,000 in benefits until it finally emerged Margaret was missing in 2016.
Police suspected the duo took Margaret's life at their cottage in Inverkip. Her body has never been found.
The Crown are seeking the £182,000 in benefits paid to Cairney and Jones in Margaret's absence.
On Monday, Mr McCluskey - who is acting with Mark Moir QC in the case- told judge Boyd at the High Court in Edinburgh that the action could soon be coming to an end.
He added: “It is now at a stage for resolution. The principal lawyer in the case, Mr Moir QC, is due to consult with Mr Cairney.
“The case is at the stage where instructions will be given resolve the matter.”
Cairney and Jones are serving life sentences for murdering 19-year-old Margaret sometime between December 1999 and January 2000.
Judge Lord Matthews told the couple: "Only you two know the truth. Only you know where her remains are."
At a hearing last December, Mr Moir told judge Lord Burns he was finding it very difficult to get instructions from Cairney.
He said: "He is not a well man at all. When I saw him last week he had deteriorated further to the extent that I found it extremely difficult to get anything resembling legal instructions.
"He is 79 years of age; he is in a wheelchair and he has multiple other health problems."
At another hearing, Mr Moir told judge Lord Sandison that his client is unwilling to discuss bringing the case to a conclusion.
Moir added: "He categorically refuses to enter into any discussion about any settlement in this case."
Jones's advocate Victoria Dow told the court at an earlier hearing her client was "keen" to settle the proceeds of crime action.
On Monday, Jones’s advocate John Brannigan asked for the case to be continued to February 28 2022.
Mr Brannigan added: “It is anticipated that by that date, the matter will be resolved.”
Lord Boyd continued the case to February 28 2022.
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