A SENIOR police officer has spoken exclusively to the Herald about the complex case which led to two men being jailed for the brutal murder of a woman in West Kilbride more than a decade ago.

It comes after Police Scotland began a search of a remote area in Argyll in a hunt for the remains of Lynda Spence.

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THE Lynda Spence murder was one of the most unique cases in Scottish history.

The Herald spoke exclusively to a retired detective who was crime scene manager responsible for the recovery of forensic evidence at the crime scene in West Kilbride.

They said: “Having worked on around 20 murders, and performed the same role, the Lynda Spence enquiry had an added challenge, in that the remains, to date, have never been found.

“I have never researched it, but to the best of my knowledge, I can only recall three murder enquiries in Scotland in the last couple of decades where this was the case and the enquiry still led to a successful conviction.”

Although the enquiry team were one hundred per cent satisfied that Ms Spence had been in the house in West Kilbride, the fact that her body was not there made it a priority to confirm this with forensic evidence.

It is also well documented that the perpetrators carried out an extensive forensic clean-up of the house in question.

READ MORE: Police to search in Argyll for remains of woman murdered in West Kilbride

The detective said: “Despite their efforts to do so, evidence linking Ms Spence to the house, in the form of blood, was recovered. Other forensic evidence linking other individuals to the scene also came to light.

“In their efforts to forensically clean the locus, the persons responsible had introduced foreign objects to the house.

“These items provided many lines of enquiry that officers from the wider enquiry team were able to pursue.

“Where were the items bought, who bought them, who paid for them, was there CCTV evidence or any other form of physical evidence that could link them to the crime.

“The fact that there were no remains meant huge importance was placed on the wider enquiry team to gather circumstantial evidence that would lead to the successful arrest and conviction of the males responsible.”

This proved to be the case, with four men convicted, two of whom received two of the longest sentences in the history of the Scottish courts system.

This was due to the forensic and circumstantial evidence, together with copious witness statements which led to only one conclusion.

The detective concluded: “While it was a successful investigation in terms that convictions were gained, for both Ms Spence’s family, and the police, no one will be one hundred per cent satisfied unless the family get complete closure.

“I certainly hope that this proves to be the case with this latest development.”