By Brian Smith and Maura Bowman

ALMOST 18 YEARS after the disappearance of Falkirk schoolgirl Vicky Hamilton triggered one of Scotland’s biggest missing person hunts, Peter Tobin (62) appeared at the High Court in Dundee yesterday accused of the 15-year-old’s abduction and murder.

The most high-profile trial to be held in Dundee for many years got under way with trial judge Lord Emslie warning jurors that they must decide the case purely on the evidence presented to them in court.

Vicky was last seen in Bathgate in February 1991, where she was changing buses after visiting her sister in Livingston.

Tobin denies that on February 10, 1991, at a number of locations in Bathgate, he abducted, compelled or otherwise induced the teenager to accompany him to his home in the town’s Robertson Avenue and that he assaulted her, drugged her, struggled with her, compressed or otherwise injured her neck, indecently assaulted her and murdered her.

He also denies that between February 10, 1991, and December 15 the same year at his home in Bathgate, at St Andrew’s Square, Edinburgh, at an address in Irvine Drive, Margate, Kent, and elsewhere in the UK, he attempted to hide her body and to defeat the ends of justice.

The charge alleges he concealed her body; that he removed and disposed of items of her clothing and footwear and some of her belongings; that he planted a purse belonging to Vicky under a portable building in a bid to mislead police officers into believing she had run away from home; that he cut her body in two and bound and wrapped it in coverings and bin bags; that he disposed of and concealed the knives he used; and that he concealed, transported and buried her body parts.

Tobin’s defence team has lodged a special defence of alibi on his behalf. His position is that between 5pm and midnight on February 10, when the crime was committed, he was in the Portsmouth area, and was then travelling from southern England to Scotland and did not return to Edinburgh before 6.30am on February 11.

Lord Emslie asked the jurors to consider if they had any personal knowledge of the case. If they had any connection with Bathgate at the time Vicky Hamilton was believed to have disappeared, or if they had been involved in the search for her, he asked them to make that known to the clerk of court.

Similarly, if they knew Vicky or her family or had met Tobin or members of his family it was important for them to make that known, he said.

If their previous or special knowledge of the case came to light at a later stage of the trial it could cause serious complications, he added.

Lord Emslie said prosecutions in Scotland are generally brought in the name of the Lord Advocate, one of the two senior law officers with ministerial responsibilities in Scotland.

Trials are usually led by an advocate depute but from time to time, the second most senior of the law officers, the Solicitor General, will conduct trials, as is happening in this case.

He warned jurors against speaking about the case to anyone outside their number, saying they were required to reach a verdict solely on the evidence, so it was important they should not have input from family or friends who would be curious about the trial.

He also warned against jurors being influenced by published or broadcast sources of information and told them that they were not to investigate on their own initiative.

“All these are off limits and out of bounds to leave you free to concentrate on the evidence and this is the only basis on which to reach your verdict,” he told jurors.

The first witness, Barry Harris (32), an intelligence analyst with Lothian and Borders Police, based at Livingston, said he had prepared a series of maps in connection with the case.

The first was a map of Bathgate, showing the town centre and streets there plus the location of police, bus and train stations.

He also produced a map of St Andrew’s Square in Edinburgh, showing the layout of the bus station there and in particular the location of a portable building at one corner of the complex.

The final map was one of Margate, in Kent, showing the location of Irvine Drive in the town.

The trial continues before a jury of 12 women and three men. Solicitor General Frank Mulholland QC is leading the case for the Crown and the defence team is headed by Donald Findlay QC.