Vicky jury shown images of knife

The jury was shown search images from the house in Robertson Avenue

The trial of Peter Tobin, the man accused of murdering Vicky Hamilton, has been shown images of a knife allegedly found at his former home.

Prosecutors said it was discovered by police searchers in loft space at 11 Robertson Avenue in Bathgate.

Jurors were also shown photographs of ligature and clothing taken from body parts discovered in Margate, Kent.

Peter Tobin, 62, denies abducting, sexually assaulting and killing the Falkirk schoolgirl in 1991.

Vicky Hamilton's remains were found buried in the garden of a house in Kent in November last year.

The 15-year-old, from Redding near Falkirk, was last seen at a bus stop in Bathgate, West Lothian, 17 years ago after visiting her sister in Livingston.

Mr Tobin has lodged a special defence of alibi, claiming he was in Portsmouth when Vicky disappeared.

The defence states that Mr Tobin was south of the border between 1700 GMT and midnight on 10 February, 1991, and that he did not arrive in Edinburgh until 0630 GMT the following day.

Lost property

The second day of the trial at the High Court in Dundee consisted entirely of photographic evidence with the jury of 12 women and three men shown scores of photographs.

Among the images were photos of the property in Robertson Avenue, Bathgate.

The pictures were taken last year following a police search which took place after the family who lived there were sent to a hotel and all the furniture was removed.

Several photographs showed a knife which was discovered in the loft space between the joist and the wall.

The jury was later taken through a series of photographs of items said by Solicitor General Frank Mulholland QC to have been found in a purse.

The purse was said to have been in the lost property department at the headquarters of Lothian and Borders Police in Fettes, Edinburgh, and had a label dating back to February 1991 on it.

Bus stop

The jury was told that one of the items was a letter addressed to someone named "Jade", which had been signed "Vicky Hamilton".

A number of other items, including an identity card in the name of Vicky Hamilton and a hospital appointment card, were also said to have been found.

The trial was then shown a number of photos taken at a police forensic laboratory in Edinburgh earlier this year.

Evidence labels with the items described them as coming from a police station or the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent.

The labels also indicated that the body parts had come from a house in Margate's Irvine Drive.

Vicky Hamilton was last seen alive waiting at a bus stop in Bathgate

Mr Tobin has pleaded not guilty to charges of abduction, murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

The indictment alleges that he made the 15-year-old go with him to his then home in Robertson Avenue, Bathgate, and there, or elsewhere, that he assaulted and drugged her.

It is further claimed that he carried out a serious indecent assault as well as struggling with the teenager and causing an injury to her neck.

Mr Tobin is also accused of trying to cover up the murder by hiding her body, disposing of her clothes and other belongings and trying to lead police on a false trail by leaving her purse under a portable cabin.

It is alleged he then cut up Vicky's body and wrapped her in bin bags, hid the knives he had used and then concealed, transported and buried her body parts.

The trial, before Lord Emslie at the High Court in Dundee, is expected to last up to five weeks.