A convicted killer who murdered vulnerable teen Margaret Fleming but continues to insist she is alive, will appeal his sentence.

Edward Cairney, 77, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years before parole when he was sentenced for murder and defeating the ends of justice last week.

Former partner Avril Jones, 59, who was also convicted of the same crimes as well as fraudulently claiming £182,000 of benefits in Margaret’s name, is said to be considering an appeal.

She declined to give evidence during the seven-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow but her defence brief told a court that Jones insists Margaret was still alive as recently as 2017.

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A spokesman for the Justiciary Office said: “I can confirm that Edward Cairney has lodged an appeal against his conviction and sentence.”

Margaret, who had learning difficulties, was last seen in December 1999, when she was aged 19.

She had gone to live with Cairney and Jones when her father died and her mother struggled to look after her - but the young woman was ‘kept like a slave’ by her supposed carers and bound by her hands, according to the detective who led the murder investigation.

Cairney and Jones lived in a shambolic house, Seacroft, in Inverkip, Inverclyde, where they disposed of her possessions over 16 years.

During that time, Jones claimed benefits on Margaret’s behalf, amounting to £182,000.

The pair were caught out by an elaborate web of lies during which Cairney claimed that Margaret was working as a ‘gangmaster’ down south and had run off to live with travellers.

They were arrested by police at Glasgow Central Station as they tried to board a train to London, having given a bizarre string of interviews to the press, in 2017.

During the seven-week trial, it emerged that Margaret had cardboard tubes placed over her arms, and police said after the conviction that she was ‘tortured’, starved of food and had her hair chopped off.

The young woman’s body has never been found and Jones and Cairney were convicted of killing Margaret between December 18, 1999 and January 5, 2000.