Vicky was 'nervous' about journey

Vicky Hamilton was last seen alive more than 17 years ago

The sister of Vicky Hamilton has told a murder trial her family has endured a "17-year-long nightmare".

Sharon Brown said the last time she saw Vicky, the pair hugged each other tightly before Vicky got on a bus, having spent the weekend at her home.

Ms Brown told the High Court in Dundee that Vicky was unsure and "really nervous" about the journey back home to Falkirk from West Lothian.

Peter Tobin, 62, denies any involvement in the 15-year-old's death.

He has lodged a defence of alibi, claiming he was in the Portsmouth area when she disappeared on 10 February 1991.

Ms Brown, a mother of two, told the court she had been "absolutely delighted" to have the teenager staying at her home in Livingston for the first time.

She described how they spent Friday evening and Saturday together, chatting, shopping and socialising, before Vicky packed her bags to return to her mother's house in the village of Redding, near Falkirk.

Vicky didn't know where she was going. She asked me to repeat and repeat and repeat where she would get off the bus and get on the next bus Sharon Brown

Vicky was keen to get back to see a music awards ceremony on the television on the Sunday evening, Ms Brown told the court.

She said the weather was "really bad" on the Sunday, and snow was lying on the ground.

She said Vicky went to get the 1700 GMT bus home after they checked with the bus company that the services were still running.

Vicky had been wearing dark, flared jeans, a polo shirt, a grey sweatshirt and a black bomber-type jacket with an orange lining, and was carrying a sports holdall and a shoulder bag containing a purse, the court heard.

Ms Brown said she went with Vicky to a bus stop in Livingston, where she began her journey.

Bin bags

The pair had made plans for Vicky to return to Livingston the following week.

Ms Brown told the court: "We hugged each other really tightly.

"Vicky didn't know where she was going. She asked me to repeat and repeat and repeat where she would get off the bus and get on the next bus.

"She was really unsure."

Ms Brown said that she asked the bus driver to tell her sister where she should get off.

"She was really, really nervous about the journey," she said.

Ms Brown told Solicitor General Frank Mulholland QC, prosecuting: "That's the last time I ever saw her."

The case is being heard by Lord Emslie at the High Court in Dundee

The witness was also shown a number of items, including jewellery, clothing and a purse.
She confirmed that one of the rings she was shown was Vicky's because "this ring belongs to my mother".

Mr Mulholland asked if she was wearing it when she got on the bus.

She replied: "Probably, because I remember my mum saying she went off with half her jewellery."

Mr Mulholland showed her an image of a sweatshirt which he said "appears to be discoloured", and Ms Brown said it looked similar to a sweatshirt Vicky was wearing.

She was also shown a purse, which she confirmed was Vicky's, and said a number of items within it, including a letter, bore her handwriting.

During cross-questioning from Tobin's defence counsel Donald Findlay QC, Ms Brown said she knew Vicky was an under-age drinker and had been drinking over the weekend of her visit but said she was "keeping an eye on her".

Posed for photographs

She told the QC she was not aware of her sister ever having taken drugs but when pressed by Mr Findlay, Ms Brown accepted that Vicky "may have" been someone who would accept a lift from a stranger.

Mr Findlay questioned Ms Brown about her connection with a man named Hugh Gunn.

Ms Brown said she met Mr Gunn as a teenager and had posed for photographs for him, but later felt "uncomfortable" around him.

Referring to 1991, Mr Findlay asked: "Were you aware then that he had been photographing your sister Vicky?"

"I don't recall," replied Ms Brown.

Mr Findlay asked if she thought it was appropriate for a man to take a picture of a young girl on a bed holding a whip.

"I would say it is inappropriate," she replied.

Earlier, nurse Elspeth Kenny told the court that she met Vicky Hamilton in Linlithgow on Friday 8 February 1991, two days before she is alleged to have been murdered.

Ms Kenny, 40, said they got the bus together to Bathgate then shared a taxi to Livingston due to the heavy snow.

She said they "talked the whole time" and that Vicky was "very happy and excited about going out for the first time with her sister".

Ms Kenny said that after getting out of the taxi in Livingston she did not see Vicky again.

Concealed body

Mr Tobin is accused of abducting Vicky and taking her to Robertson Avenue in Bathgate, West Lothian, on 10 February 1991, which the Crown alleges was then occupied by him.

The charge also alleges that there or elsewhere he drugged her, struggled with her, compressed her neck, indecently assaulted her and murdered her.

He is also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

It is alleged that he concealed Vicky's body and removed and disposed of a number of items of her clothing and footwear.

He is also accused of cutting her body in two and wrapping it in coverings and bin bags.

Mr Tobin denies all the charges against him and pleads alibi, saying that between 1700 GMT and midnight on 10 February 1991, he was in the Portsmouth area and was thereafter travelling to Scotland, arriving in Edinburgh at 0630 GMT the following day.

The case, before Lord Emslie, continues next week.