Tracy Reid disposed of her daughter's body

Last month Lord Hardie delayed passing sentence on Tracy Reid, 25, her boyfriend Lee Gaytor, also 25, and his 23-year-old brother Christopher Gaytor following a prosecution challenge to a psychological report on the woman's mental condition.

Five-year-old Danielle Reid was left to die in her bed by Lee Gaytor after he beat her and threw her down the stairs at the home where he lived with Reid in Argyle Street, Inverness, last November.

Reid, now of Culbard Street, Elgin, admitted failing to notify the authorities and to putting her daughter's body in a weighted suitcase before placing it in the Caledonian Canal with the help of Christopher Gaytor, from Hull.

Two reports

Lee Gaytor pled guilty to murder while Reid and Christopher Gaytor admitted that by their actions they had attempted to defeat the ends of justice.

Danielle Reid had been missing for months before her body was found

On Thursday, at the High Court in Edinburgh, Lord Hardie set 28 August as the date for a proof of mitigation hearing at which two psychologists are expected to be questioned over their differing assessments of Reid.

The judge said there were "certain differences" between a report prepared for the Crown by a doctor from the State Hospital in Carstairs, Lanarkshire, and another drawn up for the defence by psychologist Mairead Tagg.

Other witnesses, including Reid, may also be called during the hearing, which could run on to a second day.