Wife denies gangland claims

Police believe Mr Sibbald's body had been dumped

The wife of murdered pub landlord Billy Sibbald has strongly rejected claims her husband was the victim of a violent gangland killing.

Julie Sibbald insisted her husband was a "good-natured guy" who was not involved in underworld activity or crippled by debts from moneylenders.

The body of 48-year-old Mr Sibbald was found under a flyover section of the A1 in East Lothian a week ago after he had gone out to meet a business associate.

The landlord of the Pop Inn pub in Portobello, Edinburgh had been missing for more than three months.

Police said he had been stabbed several times in what they described as a "violent and substantial" attack.

Mr Sibbald failed to return from a meeting

The father-of-three put off a regular Tuesday night outing with his wife on 8 October before heading out from his home in Joppa, Edinburgh, for a business appointment at 2000 GMT from which he never returned.

Mrs Sibbald, 35, said speculation about her husband's business links was "ludicrous".

She said: "My kids have got to grow up listening to this stuff about their dad, but none of it has been proven.

"He was a great dad. He was just your typical laughing, giving father who was there for them when they needed him.

"Everyone that knew him locally, his friends and that, will all tell you the same thing - he was good-natured and good-humoured."

Mrs Sibbald rejected suggestions that her husband had been killed over debts, drug deals or payments for girls from the Soviet Union working in the Orchid House sauna in Edinburgh, which he used to own.

She went on: "He was no saint, I am not saying that, but it's all been exaggerated."

Stab wounds

Mrs Sibbald said the murder had had a "devastating" effect on her and the three children, Liam, nine, Paul, 14, and Craig, 25 - the latter of whom is Mr Sibbald's son from a previous relationship.

She urged anyone with information to contact the police and even invited them to call her at the pub if they did not want to speak to police officers.

Mr Sibbald's body was said to be badly decomposed when it was found and a post-mortem examination revealed that he had died from multiple stab wounds, but had not been shot.

Police believe he may have been killed elsewhere before being dumped and have appealed for anyone who saw a car stopping on the flyover.