PETER TOBIN will stand trial in Dundee for the murder of schoolgirl Vicky Hamilton.
Vicky's family yesterday sat in court, just yards from Tobin, 62, who is charged with abducting the 15-year-old, before sexually assaulting her and murdering her.
The body of the teenager was found last year in the garden of a house in Margate, Ke
nt.
Vicky, from Redding near Falkirk, was last seen in Bathgate after visiting her sister in Livingston.
Yesterday at the High Court in Edinburgh, Tobin pleaded not guilty to charges of abduction, murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
His trial has been fixed for November 3 in Dundee and is expected to last five weeks.
The indictment alleges that Tobin made the schoolgirl go with him to his then home in Robertson Avenue, Bathgate, and there, or elsewhere, he assaulted her and drugged her.
It is claimed that he carried out a serious indecent assault. Tobin is also accused of trying to cover up the murder by hiding Vicky's body. Tobin further denies bisecting Vicky's body, wrapping her in bin bags, hiding the knives he had used and then "concealing, transporting and burying" her body parts.
Defence advocate Victoria Young said: "A draft alibi is being prepared but the details of that have yet to be finalised."
Judge Lord Kinclaven remanded Tobin in custody, pending his next court appearance.
The full article contains 238 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
