The man accused of murdering the schoolgirl Vicky Hamilton more than 17 years ago has claimed he was nowhere near the scene of her alleged abduction.
Peter Tobin, 62, lodged an alibi in court yesterday stating that he was in Portsmouth on the day she disappeared.
The 15-year-old schoolgirl is said to have gone missing while waiting for a bus on February 10, 1991. Her dismembered body was found last year in the garden of a house in Margate, Kent.
She was last seen in Bathgate, West Lothian, where she was changing buses after visiting her sister in Livingston. Her disappearance led to one of the biggest missing person inquiries in Scotland.
Tobin, who has pleaded not guilty to allegations of abduction, murder and attempts to defeat the ends of justice, was at the High Court in Edinburgh for a preliminary hearing.
Victoria Young, defending, formally indicated that Tobin had an alibi, and a list of witnesses that he planned to use to help his defence.
Tobin claims that between 5pm and midnight on the day Vicky disappeared he was in the Portsmouth area and then travelled back to Scotland, arriving in Edinburgh at 6.30am on the morning of February 11, 1991.
The first charge alleges that Tobin made Vicky, from Redding, Falkirk, go with him to his then home in Bathgate, West Lothian, and there, or elsewhere, he assaulted and drugged her.
It is claimed he struggled with the schoolgirl, causing an injury to her neck, and sexually assaulted her.
He is further accused in a second charge of trying to defeat the ends of justice and avoid investigation by disposing of her belongings, cutting her body in two and wrapping it in bin bags. He denies all the charges against him.
His trial is due to begin on November 3.
