The mother of Suzanne Pilley has told a court her daughter did not break up the marriage of the man accused of killing her.

Sylvia Pilley, 69, was giving evidence on the first day of David Gilroy’s trial at the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday.

She told the court Suzanne, a divorcee, started living with Gilroy in Edinburgh in the spring of 2009.

Mrs Pilley said she had met Gilroy on four to six occasions and the couple lived together just ten minutes from her own house in Edinburgh.

She said: "He had left his wife and he was seeking a divorce. Suzanne was not the cause of the break up."

Mrs Pilley spent approximately ten minutes giving evidence in the trial which started late on Monday afternoon.

The court was also shown a photograph of Suzanne which Mrs Pilley said was taken during a charity abseiling event.

Gilroy, from Edinburgh, pleaded not guilty to murdering Suzanne “my means unknown” in the city's Thistle Street in May 2010.

Suzanne went missing on her way to work in Edinburgh City Centre in the same month of the alleged murder.

Defence QC Jack Davidson entered the not guilty plea on behalf of his client in front of judge Lord Bracadale before proceedings began.

Gilroy also entered not guilty pleas to six other charges which allege that he committed a series of criminal acts between January 2009 to May 2010.

The first charge alleges that on various occasions between January 1, 2009 and May 18, 2010 Gilroy assaulted his wife Andrea and uttered threats at her at his home in Edinburgh.

The second charge alleges that between January 5, 2009 and January 29, 2010, at an address in Edinburgh, Gilroy threatened two children - who cannot be named for legal reasons - with violence.

The third charge alleges that on October 9, 2009, Gilroy committed a breach of the peace at the Crieff Hydro hotel in Perthshire by shouting at a man called Steven Kavanagh.

The fourth charge alleges that on various occasions between August 24, 2009 and April 30, 2010, at a number of addresses in Edinburgh, Gilroy illegally accessed Suzanne Pilley's hotmail account. He is also said to have accessed her account on an internet dating web site called fitness-singles.com.

On April 26 and April 30, 2010, he is said to have read messages between Suzanne's email address and two people who she corresponded with via fitness.singles.com called "windward-48" and "Dalkeith 345".

On October 23, 2009 Gilroy is alleged to have created an email account in the name of a man called Steven Clarke. Prosecution lawyers allege that he sent emails from that account to Suzanne Pilley pretending to be a man called Steven.

The fifth charge alleges that on November 9, 2009, Gilroy assaulted a man called Scott Stewardson at Whitson Road and Whitson Grove in Edinburgh. He is said to have threatened to stab and kill Mr Stewardson.

He is also charged with murdering Suzanne either in Thistle Street, Edinburgh or at another location in Scotland.

The seventh charge alleges that on various occasions between May 4, 2010 and June 23, 2010, at various locations in Edinburgh and Argyllshire, Gilroy attempted to defeat the ends of justice.

Gilroy is said to have concealed Suzanne’s body within the premises at Infrastructure Mangement Limited in Edinburgh's Thistle Street. Prosecutors then allege he transported her remains to various locations in Scotland.

The trial continues on Tuesday when Mrs Pilley will resume giving her evidence to the court.