A YOUNG Edinburgh couple who lived next door to a convicted child
molester who was allegedly murdered in his maisonette nearly six weeks
ago were yesterday found dead together in their home.
Last night, police were treating the couple's deaths as a coincidence.
The detective leading the inquiry into the latest tragedy at No 18
Southhouse Medway, a sprawling housing estate on the city outskirts,
indicated that the deaths could be the result of a drugs-related
accident. He ruled out any link with the death of their neighbour, Mr
Lawrence Leydon.
They leave a three-year-old daughter, Charmaine.
Detective Chief Inspector Ronnie Turnbull named them as Steven
Charleston, 26, and Karen McMillan, 25, who was four months' pregnant,
and said: ''Initial forensic inquiry indicates that this is a tragic
accident.''
Police were called at 4.20pm to the couple's home, Flat 9 in the
block, by relatives concerned for their welfare. Officers forced the
door when they got no response.
Relatives stood by anxiously as the police checked out the situation
and until news of the deaths was broken to them.
The couple, whose daughter, Charmaine, is now with her father's
parents, Mr William Charleston and his wife, Pat, at their home in
nearby Burdiehouse, Edinburgh, had lived in the house for a year.
Neighbours, who did not wish to be named, expressed shock. One man
said: ''They didn't deserve that. They were not bad people. They liked a
wee thing like everyone else, but they didn't deserve to die.''
Ms Karen McMillan's uncle, Mr James McMillan, of Magdalene area in
Edinburgh, said: ''She was a great girl.''
An aunt, Mrs Mary Haig, 35, of Gracemount, Edinburgh, said: ''It has
just turned out to be tragic. Karen kept herself to herself and minded
her own business.''
As the relatives and neighbours comforted one another in the street,
Chief Inspector Turnbull said: ''It must be very upsetting for the
residents.''
Last night, the local district councillor, Mr John Wilson, said he was
shocked by the death of the couple.
''It is very sad when anything like this happens, especially coming so
close after the tragedy a few weeks ago.
''It is just coincidental that it has happened in the same block.
Unfortunately, people have been given entirely the wrong impression
about Southhouse, that it is a no-go area, but this is an insult to all
the decent people who live there.''
The body of 36-year-old Mr Leydon, a joiner, was found last month in
his home in Flat 7 of the No 18 block in Southhouse Medway.
Earlier this month, Mr Paul Strathearn, 33, of Buchanan Street,
Edinburgh, appeared on petition at the city's sheriff court charged with
the murder of Mr Leydon at his home in Southhouse Medway on February 11.
Sheriff John Horsburgh continued the case for further inquiries and
remanded Mr Strathearn in custody.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article