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Lynda Spence trial: Mother recalls last phone call Lynda Spence trial: Murder accused 'made threat' to parents
(about 2 hours later)
The mother of missing financial adviser Lynda Spence has told a murder trial that her daughter called her mobile phone a week after she disappeared. One of four men accused of murdering missing financial advisor Lynda Spence warned her parents not to go to the police, a court has heard.
Patricia Spence, 56, said her daughter sounded OK during the conversation on 20 April 2011, but she will "never get over" not knowing something was wrong. Patricia and James Spence told the High Court in Glasgow that Colin Coats came to their home days after their daughter disappeared in April 2011.
Mrs Spence said she was "hysterical" during the call and her daughter asked to speak to her dad. He is alleged to have warned them off contacting the police after he told them their daughter owed him £10,000.
Colin Coats, David Parker, Paul Smith and Philip Wade deny murder. Mr Coats, David Parker, Paul Smith and Philip Wade deny murder.
The four men are charged with abducting, torturing and murdering Ms Spence at a flat in West Kilbride in April 2011.The four men are charged with abducting, torturing and murdering Ms Spence at a flat in West Kilbride in April 2011.
Giving evidence at the High Court in Glasgow for a second day, Mrs Spence said she was concerned about the lack of verbal contact with her daughter. The court heard that Mr Coats went to Ms Spence's parents home with Tony Kelly - a former colleague of the missing financial advisor.
Mother 'screaming' Mr Spence said that Mr Coats had already told them that his daughter owed him £10,000 and had pawned two of his watches.
She said Ms Spence was apparently only communicating via text message since the last time she saw her on 13 April. 'UDA people'
The witness recalled the last time she spoke with her daughter, while she was driving with her husband. The accused is also said to have claimed that she had allegedly given £200,000 to another man, John Glen.
"We had been at Morrisons in Partick (Glasgow). We were at the traffic lights and my phone went," she said. Mr Spence said that he asked Mr Coats if he knew where his daughter was and he said he did not know.
"I answered and I was screaming 'Where are you?'. I was just hysterical. He added: "My wife said: 'If she has stolen your money I'm going to report you to the police, she had no right stealing money'."
"She sounded OK. How did she not tell me she needed help? I'll never get over this. She didn't sound as if... you know. If she needed help, you would say 'Help me'. Mr Spence was asked what Mr Coats reaction was and replied: "His reaction was to jump up and bang the couch and he said: 'If the polis look into my computer I'll get years and don't forget I've got UDA people and London people.'"
"She said 'Get my dad'. She wouldn't speak to me because I was screaming." Mr Spence, 68, also told the court of his last phone call with his daughter, which took place on 20 April - almost a week after she went missing.
Her daughter told them she would phone again later that evening but the call never came. He told solicitor General Lesley Thomson QC, prosecuting, that he and his wife were on there way to Morrisons supermarket in Partick, Glasgow, when the phone rang.
Caravan claim He said it was his daughter, who he and his wife refer to as "the wean".
Mrs Spence also told jurors that Mr Coats made her and her husband hand over their caravan in Burntisland, Fife, because he believed that Ms Spence owed him money. Mr Spence told the jury: "My wife got very upset and I had to get the phone off her. She asked where we were and I said: 'Just outside Morrisons."
Mrs Spence said: "When we were driving there I got upset just thinking about the memories we had there with the wean (child). "I asked where are you and she said: 'I'm in the Edgeware Road. She seemed normal."
"He (Coats) got out the car because his temper was up. He called her a scumbag and I was ready to answer back but his girlfriend squeezed my hand like 'Don't'." Mr Spence was asked by Ms Thomson: "Were you reassured by this," and he replied: "No because she wouldn't tell me where she was in Edgeware Road, or an address or anything."
Mrs Spence told solicitor general Lesley Thomson, prosecuting, that when she said "the wean" she was referring to her daughter. Missing phone
Mr Coats, 42, Mr Parker, 38, Mr Wade, 42, and Mr Smith, 47, are accused of taking Ms Spence from a street in Glasgow on 14 April 2011. He said that after this call he and his wife had no contact with Ms Spence by phone or text.
They are said to have held her hostage at a flat in West Kilbride, Ayrshire, where it is alleged they bound, gagged and assaulted her in an apparent attempt to extract financial information from her. Earlier his wife Patricia, 56, broke down in tears after revealing that she received a phone call from one of Ms Spence's phones on 2 June 2011.
She said: "I got a phone call from a lady. She said: 'I'm calling mum. I've found this phone.'
"I said have you seen my daughter. Is she there."
The court heard that the phone was found in a bin at a cafe in Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, and was taken to the police by the woman who found it.
Mrs Spence said that she and her husband immediately went to the police station and told them all they knew about Mr Coats and their daughter's business dealings.
She claimed in court that Mr Coats told her that Ms Spence was "a scumbag" and branded him "a bully".
'London boys'
Under cross-examination by Derek Ogg QC, representing Mr Coats, Mrs Spence was asked: "I'm interested in your husband's connections with criminals," and she replied: "He doesn't have connections. He doesn't have anything like gangster connections."
Mrs Spence was then asked why she had never told the Solicitor General, the procurator fiscal or the police about Mr Coats referring to "the London boys" and she replied: "Maybe I'm getting mixed up."
But she said that Mr Coats told her and her husband not to call the police and added: "He told us not to, warned us not to go to the police."
Mrs Spence said that even when they reported their daughter missing they did not tell the police everything.
It was only after her phone was found they mentioned Mr Coats.
The trial before judge Lord Pentland continues.The trial before judge Lord Pentland continues.