Margaret Fleming death inquiry releases its findings

The couple continued to claim benefits for her, but a change to the rules meant Mr Cairney had to re-apply in 2016.

Upon doing that it was established that Ms Fleming had not been seen since late 1999, and it was later surmised that she was killed either around that time or in early 2000.

Mr Fleming and Ms Jones were convicted of her murder in 2019 but have never disclosed what became of her remains, with the former dying in prison at the weekend.

Read More: Margaret Fleming killer dies aged 82 without disclosing location of her remains

An independent inquiry, known as a Significant Case Review (SCR), was commissioned to examine the role of all the agencies that were involved with Ms Fleming and the circumstances that led to her death.

The SCR was jointly commissioned by the Adult Protection Committee and Child Protection Committee and led by Professor Jean MacLellan OBE, who spoke to more than 100 people, including Margaret’s family and friends, during the course of the wide-ranging review and a series of recommendations have been made for all agencies involved to consider and look to implement.

The review found that the Department for Work and Pensions continued to provide benefits for over a sixteen year period without seeing Ms Fleming, accepting that she was "too scared" to see them on several occasions, something the report describes as "difficult to comprehend and accept".

It further found no health professional ever raised any child protection concerns and no other agency contacted health to raise any concerns or to get any further information.

There was "some acknowledgement" of psychological issues and reference to trauma in various files but "these are spread out and so are not collated in a way that may have signalled concern".

Police involvement related only to an incident in which Mr Cairney alleged he'd been assaulted by Ms Fleming's biological mother, with Ms Fleming interviewed as a witness. Ms Fleming's "needs and safety were not considered when they should have been", the report stated.

The SCR made some key recommendations including:

• Information sharing and communication - all agencies require to understand how to share information timeously to ensure vulnerable people are protected
• Checks and balances should be in place that balance people’s rights to privacy with a clear need to protect vulnerable people who need to be seen by agencies and this includes benefits agencies. Expansion of annual health check for adults with learning disabilities should be considered
• All colleges and universities should have robust adult protection guidance. An audit through the Further Education Safeguarding Forum should take place across Scotland
• Each local authority should be clear on their mechanism to hear the views of people with learning disabilities and understand the local provision. This should be mapped out and made publicly available.
• Margaret should be remembered, and Inverclyde Council should consider how this happens in a way which is respectful to her family

Alex Davidson, chair of the Adult Protection Committee, said: “The death of Margaret Fleming and the tragic events that led to her death shook not only the local community but the whole of Scotland.

“This wide-ranging and in-depth review provides learning for all agencies involved in Margaret’s life to ensure lessons are learned from the circumstances that led to her death and, as the title says, honours and remembers Margaret.

“It is now up to each agency to consider the findings and take those forward but what is clear to me from the review is that agencies need to talk across the fence to each other when it comes to partnership working and information sharing to ensure vulnerable people are seen in person while respecting their right to privacy.

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“See something, say something. If something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t and there should be a multi-agency response to that. The same applies to society in general and we have a collective responsibility to look out for each other and speak up if something doesn’t seem right.

“The committees would wish to thank Professor MacLellan for her work on the report, and the many individuals and organisations who contributed to it.  

“Thanks are especially due to Margaret’s mother and to her father’s fiancée.”

Prof MacLellan said: “For many of us, what we know of Margaret’s life is what was covered in the televised trial and subsequent media coverage of her murder which, by its nature, highlighted the trauma of her experience. This review had a different emphasis. It was to understand what we could about who she was and what the agencies that had been involved with her and her family had offered.

“Inverclyde recognised the challenges of doing this well given that so many years had passed since Margaret died. So it was agreed that an Appreciative Inquiry approach would be adopted. This meant that staff committed to being active in finding any records relating to Margaret. The disciplines spoke freely to each other about what they found. It was openly acknowledged what could be improved and staff have set about doing so well in advance of the publication of this report. Readers can access much of this material on a dedicated website for training and learning purposes. My role has not been a top down, external, one but as part of this dedicated team. I am grateful to them all. This approach has much to commend it.

“Like others, I would like to thank Margaret’s mother whom I have come to know well. She is a private individual who is entitled to remain so. She has co- operated wholeheartedly with the review and will be forever impacted by her daughter’s death. I would also like to thank Margaret’s father’s fiancée and her daughter for their substantial contribution to our collective understanding.

“My last comments relate to the many people with learning disabilities and carers, locally and across Scotland, who participated in the review. Their testimony appears in detail on the website too and vividly describes life in Scotland now. This aspect is Margaret’s legacy and is for the Margarets of today and the Margarets of the future.”