A woman who murdered a vulnerable female in a £182,000 benefits scam has settled a proceeds of crime action for just £3,473.
Avril Jones, 61, has agreed to hand over the sum following a hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday.
She is currently serving a life sentence for teaming up with accomplice Edward Cairney and murdering 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.
Prosecutors launched a proceeds of crime action against the pair in a bid to recover the benefit money.
In a short hearing before judge Lord Braid on Monday, Jones’s advocate John Brannigan said he and prosecutors agreed that she made £182,000 from her life of crime. But she only had £3,473.20 available at this time.
Cairney’s counsel Mark Moir QC said he had agreed with the Crown that his client had made the same amount of money from his criminal activities.
Mr Moir said his client was going to hand over £24,347.98 to the Crown.
However, prosecutors can return to court to claim more money from the duo if they discover the pair have more cash or financial assets.
Cairney and Jones are serving life sentences for murdering 19-year-old Margaret sometime between December 1999 and January 2000.
Passing sentence, judge Lord Matthews told the couple: "Only you two know the truth. Only you know where her remains are."
On Monday, Lord Braid gave Jones and Cairney six months to pay the sums up.
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