David Gilroy has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for the murder of missing bookkeeper Suzanne Pilley, whose body has never been found.

Gilroy, 49, had denied murdering the office worker in May 2010. He was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh today after being convicted on March 15 this year.

Suzanne Pilley, 38, disappeared nearly two years ago after making her usual journey to work in Edinburgh city centre.

The book-keeper, described as a devoted daughter and an exemplary colleague, never arrived at her desk, having been killed at her workplace that morning, on May 4, 2010, by David Gilroy, a colleague.

The 49-year-old - said by prosecutors to be a "deceitful and controlling" individual - returned to the High Court in Edinburgh today where he was jailed for life and told he must spend a minimum of 18 years behind bars before he can be considered for release.

In a legal first, part of today's hearing was filmed for television. Following an application by broadcaster STV, the camera recorded judge Lord Bracadale as he told Gilroy his fate.

It was the first time in the UK that TV news cameras have been allowed to film a sentencing in a criminal court for broadcast on the same day.

Married Gilroy, who protested his innocence since the day Ms Pilley vanished, was convicted of murder by a jury following a four-week trial last month.

The disappearance of the popular divorcee sparked a major missing person inquiry and a groundbreaking police investigation.

Lothian and Borders Police collected more than 1,100 statements and viewed CCTV from 250 separate locations.

A map released by Lothian and Borders police, showing areas of Argyll searched as part of the investigation into Suzanne Pilley's death (click for .pdf version).

On the May morning in question, Ms Pilley had made her usual bus journey from her Whitson Road flat to work at Infrastructure Managers Limited (IML) in the city's Thistle Street.

Uncharacteristically, she failed to turn up without notice, quickly raising questions about what had happened to her.

The net slowly closed in around Gilroy, then regional operations manager at IML from Edinburgh's Silverknowes area, with whom Ms Pilley had a turbulent relationship after he temporarily split from his wife Andrea.

The prosecution case against him was wholly circumstantial but each part of it helped build a picture of increasingly suspicious behaviour by Gilroy and pointed to his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

After she arrived at the office Ms Pilley met Gilroy and they both went to the basement of the building. It was there that he murdered her and embarked on his "chilling and calculated" plan to avoid being caught.

He then hid her body in the same basement and returned home, under a pretence, to collect his car, before spending his lunch hour buying some air freshener.

On returning to the workplace, he put her body in the boot of his silver Vauxhall and went about his business day, pretending nothing was amiss.

The following day, when the missing person inquiry began in earnest, Gilroy travelled more than 100 miles to Argyll, claiming he had business to attend to at a school.

He was instead abandoning her body in a lonely grave, where it remains to this day.

Evidence showed Gilroy, a possessive and jealous man, was driven to kill when Ms Pilley told him their relationship was over and she had started seeing other men.

Shortly before her disappearance, Gilroy had pestered Ms Pilley with more than 400 text messages which stopped the day before she went missing. He also had scratches on his body which he had tried to cover with make-up.

Jurors convicted Gilroy of murdering Ms Pilley by "unknown means" on May 4 2010. He was also found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by hiding her body and driving it to various locations in Scotland.

He had no previous criminal record.

Following the sentencing the victim's parents, Sylvia and Robert Pilley, said their ordeal would continue until their daughter's body is found. "We are relieved that the legal process has concluded, and it gives us comfort to know justice has been done for Suzanne.

"As a family we will continue to try to move on, but we will never be able to rest completely until we know where our daughter is.

"Suzanne is sorely missed by everyone who knew her, and we would like to say once again how grateful we are for all the support we've had from her friends and colleagues in the past two years."

Detective Superintendent Gary Flannigan, who led the investigation said the focus on recovering Suzanne Pilley's body would continue. "I note today's sentence, but once again our thoughts are very much with Suzanne's family for whom the ordeal continues," he said.

"Only one person actually knows where Suzanne is, and can bring an end to the uncertainty for all her family and friends. Once again, I reiterate that Lothian and Borders Police remain committed to pursuing any new information which comes to light that could help recover Suzanne."

David Gilroy's family maintain his innocence and released the following statement today: ""We continue to believe that David is not guilty of the charges of which he was convicted by a majority decision. At this stage, we will not be making any further statement regarding any aspect of the case and we ask the media to continue to respect our privacy."