Businessmen submit plans to build luxury homes at the site where vulnerable teenager Margaret Fleming was murdered by her carers

• Margaret Fleming, 19, went missing in December 1999 from a cottage in Inverkip
• Two carers, Edward Cairney and Avril Jones were later convicted of her murder
• Property developers want to redevelop the site due to its ‘melancholy’ history

Property developers have renewed plans to build two luxury homes on the site of a cottage where a teenage girl was murdered and whose body has never been recovered. 

Minaz Rajabali, 62, and Harinder Singh Kohli, 56, bought the site where Margaret Fleming disappeared in December 1999 in 2017. 

The site, in Inverkip, Inverclydale on the Firth of Clyde is where police believe Ms Fleming, 19, went missing in December 1999. 

Her carers, Edward Cairney and Avirl Jones were convicted of murdering her at the cottage on the Firth of Clyde, known as Seacroft, or elsewhere in Scotland between December 18, 1999 and January 5, 2000.

Margaret Fleming, pictured, was last seen in December 1999 at a Christmas party at a cottage where she lived with her carers Edward Cairney and Avril Jones on the Firth of Clyde

Edward Cairney and Avril Jones, pictured, were both jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 14 years having been convicted of Ms Fleming’s murder

The couple had claimed almost £200,000 in benefits for caring for Ms Fleming, who had learning difficulties.  

Officers were unaware that Ms Fleming had gone missing until October 2016. 

Soon after buying the cottage, the two property developers demolished the cottage and were planning to build two luxury homes on the site. However, a failure to begin construction in time has seen the planning permission expire. 

As a result, Mr Rajabali and Mr Singh were forced to re-apply to Inverclyde council to revive their plans. 

Minaz Rajabali, 62, and Harinder Singh Kohli, 56, bought the site where Margaret Fleming disappeared in December 1999 in 2017 with a plan to turn the £120,000 cottage into two luxury homes

The businessmen wanted to build a pair of five bedroom homes on the site

The houses will each have five bedrooms, two balconies, a double garage and an entertainment room

The houses will each have five bedrooms, two balconies, a double garage and an entertainment room.

The local authority is due to make a decision on the application next month.

A planning statement submitted as part of the original application said: ‘It is essential here to emphasise the very sad recent history of this site. It has been at the forefront of a murder inquiry and trial and as such has left this beautiful area of land with a melancholy that really needs to be lifted.

‘It is in the interests of the area, and of course the nearby neighbours, to bring new life to this land and erase, where possible, the memory of this dreadful event.

‘An exciting new modern development will help achieve this.’

Cairney and Jones were each sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 14 years.

The case was featured in a BBC documentary after cameras were allowed into the High Court in Glasgow to film Cairney and Jones’ trial.

A planning statement submitted as part of the original application said: ‘It is essential here to emphasise the very sad recent history of this site. It has been at the forefront of a murder inquiry and trial and as such has left this beautiful area of land with a melancholy that really needs to be lifted’

The planning application added: ‘It is in the interests of the area, and of course the nearby neighbours, to bring new life to this land and erase, where possible, the memory of this dreadful event. ‘An exciting new modern development will help achieve this’

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