A POLICE photographer told a court how she thought the man accused of murdering Suzanne Pilley applied make-up to injuries on his hands.

Louise Harrower, 32, was assigned to take photographs of David Gilroy, 49, days after Ms Pilley went missing in Edinburgh city centre on May 4, 2010. She told the High Court in Edinburgh officers discovered, after interviewing him on May 6, 2010, that Gilroy had injuries on various parts of his body.

She was told to record images of these injuries but, as she was taking the photographs, she thought Gilroy was wearing make-up on his hands.

The court had heard earlier from Detective Constable Colin Fordyce, 41, who told the jury he took Gilroy into the toilet to wash a "substance" from his hands, but he didn't think Gilroy washed his hands properly. Ms Harrower then took photographs of injuries Gilroy had said he suffered from doing gardening at his home.

The evidence came on the tenth day of the trial of Gilroy, of Silverknowes, Edinburgh. He denies murdering Ms Pilley, 38, in Thistle Street, Edinburgh, or at another location in Scotland by a means unknown to the prosecutor, on May 4, 2010.

Ms Harrower spoke after the jury were shown photographs of injuries on Mr Gilroy's body. He suffered cuts, bruises and scratches to his forehead, hands, chest and fingers.

Ms Harrower told prosecution lawyer Alex Prentice, QC, she took the images on May 7, 2010, at Lothian and Borders Police HQ in Fettes, Edinburgh. Mr Gilroy went to the police station the day after he concluded a voluntary interview which saw him undergo a forensic medical examination.

The court also heard Mr Fordyce visited Gilroy at his home on Saturday, May 8.

In earlier statements, he told police he sustained his injuries while gardening. But Mr Fordyce said when he visited Gilroy at home, he found no evidence any gardening work had been done in the recent past.

Mobile phone expert John Tarpey, 47, spoke about how he analysed records in a bid to discover a phone's whereabouts between May 4 and May 5, 2010.

Mr Tarpey told the court that each time a person uses a mobile phone, a record of the phone mast used to make the call is generated by phone providers. Lothian and Borders Police wanted Mr Tarpey to study the masts used by a mobile phone number which ended in 815. On May 4, 2010, the phone used masts in the Edinburgh area.

On May 5 it started using masts in the capital, but later, it used a mast in the Stirling area. Between midday and 4pm, the user appeared to turn the handset off. At 4pm, the phone started using masts in the Inveraray to Lochgilphead area.

At 6.57pm on May 5, the person using the phone used a mast in the Inveraray area.

However, Mr Tarpey said the phone was not next used until 9.34pm in Ardlui on Loch Lomondside.

Mr Tarpey told Mr Prentice, the phone next used masts in the Loch Lomondside area.

He told the prosecution lawyer it was likely the phone was switched off between 6.57pm and 9.34pm.

Gilroyhas pled not guilty to five charges which allege he committed a series of criminal acts across Scotland between August 2009 and June 2010.

He has pled not guilty to a charge which alleges he intended to defeat the ends of justice by failing to wash and clean his hands properly when instructed to do so by DC Fordyce at Fettes Police station on May 7, 2010.

The trial before judge Lord Bracadale continues.