Two families of high-profile murder victims say they’re “relieved” the Scottish Government has backed their calls for murderers to remain in prison until they give up the location of their victims’ bodies.

Relatives of Suzanne Pilley and Arlene Fraser lobbied for changes to the parole system that would penalise murderers who refuse to provide details of the location of their victims’ bodies.

Following a meeting with Scottish Justice Secretary Angela Constance to lobby for an amendment to the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill making its way through the Scottish Parliament, the two families issued a joint statement on Wednesday urging the cabinet secretary to bring forward the changes as quickly as possible.

Under current legislation, the parole board “may” take a prisoner’s provision of a victim’s location into consideration, but the discussed amendment would mean a prisoner “must” give up the location of the deceased before being considered for parole.

However, the Scottish Government maintains decisions on parole are for the parole board.

Suzanne Pilley’s sister, Gail Fairgrieve, and mother, Sylvia Pilley, joined Arlene Fraser’s sister, Carol Gillies, to deliver their joint statement in Glasgow.

It read: “Today we met with Justice Secretary Angela Constance to seek assurances that this important amendment will go through in the Bill.

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“We are relieved that she reaffirmed her support of the amendment and spoke of her commitment for the intent and substantive content of Amendment 260 to remain unaltered.

“We’d like to thank her for meeting with us and discussing the impact that this change will have.”

They said they hoped a change in the law would provide their two families and countless others “a measure of comfort and confidence that they can get the justice that we all so badly deserve”.

For six months, 33-year-old Arlene Fraser’s disappearance from Elgin in 1998 was initially treated as a missing persons case by Grampian police.

Eventually, her husband, Nat Fraser, was convicted of her murder in 2012.

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His trial was only the second time in history that footage from a British murder trial appeared on national television, in the Channel 4 documentary, ‘The Murder Trial’.

Suzanne Pilley was a 38-year-old bookkeeper from Edinburgh when she disappeared in May 2010.

Her former partner, David Gilroy, was arrested and charged with her murder before being sentenced to life in prison, also in 2012.

Murder convictions are rare, but the two families are not alone in their grief.

Allison McGarrigle disappeared in June 1997 and was only formally declared dead eight years later - Charles O’Neill and William Lauchlin were convicted of her murder in 2010.

Fourteen years old and vulnerable, Margaret Flemming vanished in October 2016, and while former carers Edward Cairney and Avril Jones were sentenced to a minimum of 14 years in prison, her body was never recovered.

Speaking after her meeting with the families of Suzanne Pilley and Arlene Fraser, Angela Constance said she was “grateful” to meet them.

She said: “They have suffered heartbreaking losses, compounded by not knowing the final resting place of their loved ones. My deepest sympathies remain with them.

“In March, I supported an amendment to the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform Bill that will mean the Parole Board, when making decisions about release, must take account of whether a prisoner has information about the disposal of a victim’s remains, but has not disclosed it.

“At today’s meeting, I reiterated my firm commitment to this change, which will become law if the Bill is passed in Parliament.”

The families shared their “unimaginable strain and pressure for so many years leading up to this moment” and urged ministers to ensure the amendment to the bill is passed quickly.

The next stage of the bill will commence following the Holyrood summer recess.