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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Stuart MacDonald

Sick killer Andrew Innes to appeal conviction for murdering Bennylyn Burke and daughter

A man who murdered a mother and her two-year-old daughter before burying their bodies under his kitchen floor is to appeal against his conviction.

Andrew Innes, 52, stabbed and beat 25-year-old Bennylyn Burke to death with a hammer before strangling her daughter Jellica at his home in Dunde e.

He had lured Bennylyn from Bristol to Dundee after targeting her through a dating website in February 2021.

Innes was found guilty of their murders following a five-day trial at the High Court in Edinburgh earlier this month.

He was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 36 years before he can apply for parole.

The software engineer has now launched a bid for freedom after instructing his legal team to challenge both his conviction and sentence.

Bennylyn Burke, 25, and her two-year-old daughter, Jellica were found dead at a house in Dundee (Police Scotland/PA Wire)

His appeal bid was lodged at the High Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh and a hearing will take place at a later date.

He did not request to be released on bail pending his appeal and remains in custody.

During his trial, Innes had admitted killing Bennylyn and Jellica but denied murder, claiming that he had diminished responsibility.

The jury also found him guilty of sexually assaulting Jellica, raping another child, and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The trial heard that Innes met Bennylyn, who had moved to the UK from the Philippines in 2019, on a dating site in February 2021.

He drove Bennylyn and Jellica from their home in Bristol to Dundee on 18 February.

They were reported missing two weeks later.

On 5 March, police officers saw a car which had made a return trip from Dundee to Bristol during lockdown in the driveway of Innes' home in Troon Avenue.

Innes claimed that he had driven Bennylyn and Jellica to Glasgow and had left them with another man.
But after repeated questioning he admitted killing Bennylyn and told officers she was buried under the kitchen floor.

The court heard that Bennylyn had been stabbed and repeatedly hit on the head with a hammer. Jellica died of asphyxiation.

Bennylyn and Jellica's family said they would be "forever haunted" by what they described as "the worst cruelty we could ever imagine".

Judge Lord Beckett said the "difficult and harrowing" case was one of the worst crimes to have come before a Scottish court.

The High Court in Edinburgh confirmed an "intimation of intention to appeal" against conviction and sentence had been lodged for Innes.

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