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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Tobin 'joked while digging grave' | Tobin 'joked while digging grave' |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| A man accused of killing an 18-year-old woman 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 as 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. |
| 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 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. |
| He told jurors: "I asked him 'What are you digging a hole for? Are you going to Australia?'. | He told jurors: "I asked him 'What are you digging a hole for? Are you going to Australia?'. |
| 'Extra distance' | 'Extra distance' |
| "He explained to me that it was for a sandpit for the young lad when he came up to play at the weekends. | "He explained to me that it was for a sandpit for the young lad when he came up to play at the weekends. |
| "Actually, it was formed like a trench, which I thought was unusual for a sandpit." | "Actually, it was formed like a trench, which I thought was unusual for a sandpit." |
| Mr Martin said he never saw any sand being put into the hole and that Mr Tobin filled it in shortly afterwards. | 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. | 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. | 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 festival | Miss 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. | 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. | 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 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 of the car seemed to want to cover "a lot of extra distance" by using the M25, rather than taking 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. |
| Serving life | Serving life |
| "I couldn't understand why he wanted to go along that route and I was dropped off at junction eight of the M25." | "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 Mr 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 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 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. | 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 prosecution said Mr Tobin murdered Vicky 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 Vicky's murder. | |
| The trial resumes on Thursday. |