A MAN who met a bookkeeper through internet dating became worried after receiving a text message from her the day before she was allegedly murdered, a court heard.

Jurors were told Suzanne Pilley sent the message to Mark Brooks on May 3, 2010, explaining why she had called off a planned meeting with him.

Mr Brooks told how he thought Ms Pilley was in a "difficult romantic situation" after he got the text, in which she spoke of arguing with "David".

Earlier, Ms Pilley's mother told the court how her daughter had a "turbulent" relationship with David Gilroy, the man accused of murdering her. Gilroy, 49, from Edinburgh, denies murdering 38-year-old Ms Pilley on May 4, 2010 in Edinburgh, or elsewhere, hiding her body and driving away with it in the boot of a car.

Jurors at the High Court in Edinburgh have heard that Gilroy, who had left his wife, moved in to Ms Pilley's Edinburgh flat in Whitson Road in May or June 2009. By May 2010 she was said to be single.

Mr Brooks, a 41-year-old planning officer from Edinburgh, told how he and Ms Pilley made contact in mid-April that year through a dating website.

The pair communicated over text message, email and telephone before eventually meeting on May 1, 2010. Mr Brooks said they spent that Saturday at bars in Edinburgh. They then went back to her flat.

The witness, who said there was no sexual contact between them, told the court: "It was fairly clear I was very attracted to Suzanne. We had a lot in common."

He told how, as the night progressed, Ms Pilley awoke.

He said: "About 3 o'clock, I was woken by Suzanne who seemed to be uncomfortable with something.

"I asked her what was wrong and she proceeded to tell me she thought there was someone outside the flat."

Mr Brooks told how he later invited Ms Pilley round for a meal on Sunday, May 2 but that she cancelled via text late that afternoon, saying she had a "visitor" and that things were "complicated".

The following day, the court heard, he received a further message from Ms Pilley, which read: "God almighty. I had such a rubbish night. David appeared as I was leaving. I asked him to go and if (sic) wouldn't. I was arguing with him, asking him to leave. I cried when I sent that text to you because I really wanted to come down and see you. At least, if anything, I managed to drum through to David that it is over and to leave me alone."

Asked how he felt upon receiving it, Mr Brooks replied: "I was quite worried about that particular message. I thought that she seemed to be in a difficult romantic situation."

Mr Brooks said they spent Monday evening together with Ms Pilley staying over at his flat.He said he dropped her off near her flat on the morning of Tuesday, May 4 on his way to work.

"She waved and she seemed very happy. She was happy all weekend. That was the last time I saw her," said Mr Brooks.

Ms Pilley's mother, Sylvia, described how Suzanne told her Gilroy became jealous when she bumped into an old school friend a couple of months before May 2010.

She told the court: "It was always a turbulent relationship. It was on and it was off.

"She was always packing his clothes, sending him away, then apologising and coming back. The relationship went on like that."

Later, another witness told how Gilroy had "threatened" him.

Painter and decorator Scott Stewardson, 26, said the incident happened in November 2009 after he spotted Gilroy in his garden and confronted him.

Mr Stewardson, who was living in Whitson Road at the time, said Gilroy held car keys close to his eyes and said: "I'll stab you. Mind your own business."

The murder charge alleges that Gilroy assaulted and injured Ms Pilley by unknown means in Thistle Street, or elsewhere, resulting in her death.

Prosecutors also allege Gilroy attempted to defeat the ends of justice, taking various steps to avoid detection, arrest and prosecution over the alleged killing.

Gilroy, of Edinburgh, denies all the charges against him.

The trial continues.