Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Grant McCabe

Man to stand trial accused of murdering Bennylyn Burke and her daughter in Dundee

A man is to stand trial accused of murdering a mother and her two year-old daughter.

Andrew Innes allegedly killed Bennylyn Burke, 25, and her child Jellica Burke at a house in Troon Avenue, Dundee between February 20 and March 5 2021.

Prosecutors claim the 51 year-old then hid the bodies under the kitchen floor of the property with a further accusation that he also raped a seven year-old child.

The case called today at the High Court in Glasgow.

Brian McConnachie, defending, told the hearing: "He pleads not guilty to this indictment."

The QC said the case was "complex and unusual".

Their bodies were discovered at a property at Troon Avenue in Dundee (Katielee Arrowsmith SWNS)

He added a number of psychiatric and psychological investigations had been carried out on Innes since the previous hearing last September.

Mr McConnachie: "The situation is that the necessary defence enquiries have each produced further enquiries that need to be carried out."

However, the advocate and prosecutor Alex Prentice QC both agreed a trial could be fixed.

Lord Pentland then set a trial due to begin on January 30 next year in Edinburgh.

The case will be before Lord Beckett.

Mr Prentice said he anticipates calling around 14 witnesses for a trial which could last eight days.

A further hearing will take place before the trial in August this year.

Innes had his attendance excused on Tuesday. The court previously had to appoint a lawyer to act on his behalf.

It is claimed Innes stabbed Bennylyn on the body with a knife as well as repeatedly striking her on the head with a hammer and the handle of the blade.

The indictment alleges Innes murdered her two year-old daughter Jellica and that he did "asphyxiate her by means unknown".

Innes then faces a charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

Police at a crime scene in Dundee earlier this year. (Katielee Arrowsmith SWNS)

This includes a claim that he did wrap the body of Bennylyn in a rubble bag, blanket and tarpaulin and then concealed the corpse in concrete under the kitchen floor at the Troon Avenue property.

Jellica's naked body is also said to have been hidden there.

The charge also features a claim that Innes told police investigating Bennylyn's whereabouts that he had driven her, Jellica and another child to the Old Inns Cafe in Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire on February 28.

He is said to have told the officers he left them with an "unknown male" and that he had no contact with them afterwards.

Innes is separately accused of assaulting, raping and attempting to rape a seven-year-old child as well detaining her against her will at the house in Dundee.

This is also said to have happened between the same dates of the alleged murders.

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.