A 39-year-old man has been appeared in court in Scotland charged with murdering his 66-year-old mother Phyllis Dunleavy from Dublin. Her remains were found in a shallow grave in Edinburgh on June 6th.

Her son James Dunleavy lives in Edinburgh and was arrested last night and charged. He was brought before the courts this afternoon.

No plea or declaration was made on his behalf and he has been remanded in custody to appear again in court next Wednesday July 17th.

Her remains were discovered last month by a cyclist on Corstorphine Hill overlooking Edinburgh. In an effort to establish who she was, detectives published the image of a facial reconstruction.

They also displayed pictures of rings that were found with her body and published details of her dental work in dentist trade magazines.

Her body was found in a shallow grave in June

Police identified the body as Phyllis Dunleavy several days ago but her name has only now been made public.

Ms. Dunleavy was apparently identified after Irish relatives recognised her from the facial reconstruction put together by scientists at Dundee University. They produced the facial likeness using the dead woman's skull.

Detectives highlighted the fact that she had undergone extensive dental treatment, pointing out that her teeth had veneers and implants.

The investigation team received more than 30 calls from members of the public as far afield as Israel after releasing the reconstruction image.

Rory Reynolds is a reporter with The Scotsman newspaper.