Andrew Innes convicted of the murder of Bennylyn Burke and her daughter Jellica in Dundee

Andrew Innes, 52, has today been convicted of the murders of a mother and her two-year-old daughter in Dundee.

The bodies of Bennylyn Burke, 25, and daughter Jellica, were found buried under the kitchen floor of Innes’s house on Thursday, 18 March, 2021.

Innes was today, Monday, 6 February, 2023, found guilty following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 36 years.

Detective Chief Inspector Graham Smith, of Police Scotland’s Major Investigation Team, said: “The murders of Bennylyn Burke and her two-year-old daughter Jellica have shocked and appalled us all.

“Today, our thoughts are very much with their family and friends, including those relatives who travelled from the Philippines for this trial.

“This was a harrowing investigation which deeply affected everyone involved – Police Scotland officers and staff, forensic scientists, external anthropology experts and colleagues from Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Avon and Somerset Police and the National Crime Agency.

“Everyone showed commitment and professionalism in the face of the most appalling circumstances to secure justice for Bennylyn and Jellica.

“In almost 30 years of policing, the depravity shown by Andrew Innes was beyond anything I, or colleagues, had witnessed before.

“Not only did he callously take the lives of a young mother and an innocent child, he then set out to escape justice by burying their bodies beneath his kitchen floor.

“His actions showed no regard for human life, or for the suffering and anguish he brought to their loved ones.

“I want to end by thanking Bennylyn and Jellica’s family for the courage they have shown throughout what has been an unimaginable ordeal and I hope that this conviction helps to bring them some degree of closure.”