THE senior officer investigating the 1999 murder of Tranent's Steven Brown is expected to submit a report on the investigation to the Crown Office in the coming days.

Detective Inspector Gary Boyd and Police Scotland colleagues looking into the case carried out a number of interviews with "significant individuals" last Thursday and Friday - as revealed in the Courier last week.

Mr Brown was found dead in a field near Elphinstone on February 21, 1999, having been badly beaten and stabbed. A reinvestigation into his murder was launched in January.

DI Boyd said last week that he had been pleased with the response from the Tranent community during the investigation.

However, as it is a cold case, he must now submit a report to the Crown Office - which will decide on the next steps.

While DI Boyd could not comment on whether those interviewed last week were suspects in the case, he told the Courier this week: "Because the case is 14 years old, we submit a report to the Crown Office.

"In all the cold cases, we submit a report to the Crown Office and seek their guidance.

"I put in my own recommendations, and the Crown Office might come back and say: 'Yes, we agree with your recommendations'.

"We may well get direction from the Crown Office to carry out a couple of other enquiries.

"In weeks, rather than months, we should see some significant progress with it." Of last week's interviews, he added: "It was a worthwhile exercise because it was an important stage of the investigation.

"Now, on the basis of the reinvestigation and these further interviews, a report is submitted to the Crown Office."