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Man 'joked while digging grave' Tobin 'joked while digging grave'
(19 minutes later)
A man killed an 18-year-old girl and buried her body in his back garden, pretending her grave was a sandpit, a court has heard. A man accused of killing an 18-year-old girl and burying her body in his back garden, pretended her grave was a sandpit for his son, a court has heard.
Jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court heard Peter Tobin, 62, was "chest deep" in a hole he was digging for Dinah McNicol's body while a neighbour joked with him. Jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court heard Peter Tobin, 62, was "chest deep" in a hole he was digging for Dinah McNicol's body as a neighbour joked with him.
Prosecutors say Miss McNicol's remains were later found buried in the garden.Prosecutors say Miss McNicol's remains were later found buried in the garden.
Mr Tobin, of Renfrewshire, Scotland, denies murdering Miss McNicol, of Essex, who vanished in 1991.Mr Tobin, of Renfrewshire, Scotland, denies murdering Miss McNicol, of Essex, who vanished in 1991.
Jurors were told her body was found 16 years after she was last seen hitching a lift with a man on the M25 in Surrey. David Martin, who lived next door to Mr Tobin in Margate, Kent, said he remembered his neighbour digging a hole in the back garden of his home in the summer of 1991.
David Tremlett had spent a weekend with Miss McNicol at a music festival before they began hitching lifts home. He told jurors he last saw her alone in the car with the driver. He told jurors: "I asked him 'What are you digging a hole for? Are you going to Australia?'.
'Extra distance''Extra distance'
Miss McNicol was waiting for her A-level results and had visited a music festival in Liphook, Hampshire, the court heard. "He explained to me that it was for a sandpit for the young lad when he came up to play at the weekends.
Mr Tremlett, 44, who lives in Wales, said he and Miss McNicol hitched two lifts to a spot on the A3 near a pub called The Devil's Punchbowl, on 6 August 1991. "Actually, it was formed like a trench, which I thought was unusual for a sandpit."
He told jurors they were picked up by a man driving a green four-door car and Miss McNicol got into the front seat. Mr Martin said he never saw any sand being put into the hole and that Mr Tobin filled it in shortly afterwards.
Jurors were earlier told Miss McNicol's body was found in 2007, 16 years after she was last seen hitching a lift with a man on the M25 in Surrey.
The other hitchhiker, David Tremlett, had spent a weekend with Miss McNicol at a music festival before they began the journey home. He told jurors he last saw her alone with the driver of a car which had picked them up.
Miss McNicol went missing in 1991 after a trip to a music festivalMiss McNicol went missing in 1991 after a trip to a music festival
Miss McNicol was waiting for her A-level results and had been at a music festival in Liphook, Hampshire, the court heard.
Mr Tremlett, 44, who lives in Wales, said he and Miss McNicol hitched two lifts ending up on the A3 near a pub called The Devil's Punchbowl, in August 1991.
He told jurors they were then picked up by a man driving a green four-door car and that Miss McNicol got into the front seat.
He said the driver was a man in his late 30s or early 40s with straw-coloured, wavy hair.He said the driver was a man in his late 30s or early 40s with straw-coloured, wavy hair.
Mr Tremlett told the court the driver over the car seemed to want to cover "a lot of extra distance" by using the M25, rather than take the most direct route. Mr Tremlett told the court the driver of the car seemed to want to cover "a lot of extra distance" by using the M25, rather than taking the most direct route.
"The best route from the location of the festival would have been along the A25," he said."The best route from the location of the festival would have been along the A25," he said.
"I couldn't understand why he wanted to go along that route and I was dropped off at junction eight of the M25."
Sitting in the back, Mr Tremlett said there was a brief conversation he heard about music and the driver of the car, allegedly Peter Tobin, said the Cambridge Folk Festival would be "more my style".
Serving lifeServing life
Mr Tremlett said that when he got out of the car he noted Miss McNicol's telephone number. "I couldn't understand why he wanted to go along that route and I was dropped off at junction eight of the M25."
Sitting in the back of the car, Mr Tremlett said there was a brief conversation he heard about music and the driver of the car, allegedly Peter Tobin, said the Cambridge Folk Festival would have been "more my style".
Mr Tremlett said that when he got out of the car he noted down Miss McNicol's telephone number.
He later tried her number several times but got no answer.He later tried her number several times but got no answer.
Jurors earlier heard the bodies of Miss McNicol and another teenager Vicky Hamilton, 15, were found buried in the garden at the back of Mr Tobin's former home in Irvine Drive in Margate, Kent, in 2007. Jurors have also been told the bodies of Miss McNicol and another teenager, 15-year-old Vicky Hamilton, were found in 2007 buried in the garden at the back of Mr Tobin's former home in Irvine Drive in Margate, Kent.
The court was told Mr Tobin murdered Miss Hamilton within a year of his wife Cathy Wilson, leaving him in April 1990, taking their then two-year-old son. The prosecution said Mr Tobin murdered Miss Hamilton within a year of his wife Cathy Wilson leaving him in April 1990, taking their son who was then two years old.
Ms Wilson said Mr Tobin continued to have access to their son and would travel to Portsmouth to collect him.Ms Wilson said Mr Tobin continued to have access to their son and would travel to Portsmouth to collect him.
Mr Tobin is serving life in prison for the murder of Miss Hamilton.Mr Tobin is serving life in prison for the murder of Miss Hamilton.
The trial continues. The hearing resumes on Thursday.