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World's End bodies 'found apart' Policeman helped World's End girl
(about 2 hours later)
A former policeman has told a murder trial about the discovery of the bodies of two teenage friends 30 years ago. A former policeman has told the World's End murder trial how he helped one of the victims to her feet outside the pub before she disappeared 30 years ago.
Retired chief inspector Anthony Coates said Christine Eadie and Helen Scott, both 17, were found dead in separate locations in East Lothian. John Rafferty, 50, said Christine Eadie then walked away with a "shifty" looking man and her friend Helen Scott.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Ms Eadie's body was on the Firth of Forth shore at Gosford. Ms Scott's was in a field seven or eight miles inland. Later, a retired detective also told the High Court in Edinburgh how the bodies of the teenagers were found in separate locations in East Lothian.
Angus Sinclair, 62, has denied raping and killing the two girls.Angus Sinclair, 62, has denied raping and killing the two girls.
The court has heard from witnesses that the pair were last seen on a night out at the World's End pub in Edinburgh October 1977. Mr Rafferty, now an enforcement officer with Edinburgh City Council, said Ms Eadie, 17, had fallen over outside the pub in October 1977.
Mr Sinclair has lodged a special defence incriminating his brother-in-law Gordon Hamilton, who is now dead. The former police officer said he thought there was a second man with them as well. He was watching to see if they got into a car.
The charges allege that at the time, they were acting together. Closing time
The former policeman said he recognised the girls from photos circulated to police after their naked and bound bodies were found seven or eight miles apart the next day.
He also realised he had been at the same school as Ms Eadie and Ms Scott, 17, although they were a couple of years below him.
Mr Rafferty said he was standing at the street corner watching the closing time crowds on Saturday, 15 October 1977.
"I heard a thud as though someone had fallen," he said.
"I could see a female had fallen just at the edge of the gutter and the footpath."
I assumed he was with the girls but he wasn't speaking, he wasn't saying anything John RaffertyFormer policeman
As he tried to steady her another female emerged from the crowd of people and, from their conversation, he thought they were together.
One girl wanted to go on somewhere but her companion just wanted to go home, he told advocate depute Alan Mackay, prosecuting.
He also became aware of a man who was just standing there, looking at them silently.
"I assumed he was with the girls but he wasn't speaking, he wasn't saying anything," said Mr Rafferty.
"He wasn't making any kind of eye contact. He was looking away from me," added the former policeman.
The man stood out because of the way he was dressed, said Mr Rafferty.
"He was dressed out of fashion. That was what struck me. He was wearing clothes people had been wearing in Edinburgh two years ago," he said.
Ms Eadie was helped to her feet outside the pub
"He had flared trousers with a high waistband."
He also told the jury: "Having been a police officer for a number of years, I felt this person was a bit shifty with me, wasn't wanting to make eye contact.
"You get the impression when you are a police officer that some people don't like police officers and the way this chap was looking at me, he didn't like police officers."
He said the brown-haired man walked away with the girl "just as close as anyone would be if they were walking together" although they were not holding hands.
Retired chief inspector Anthony Coates, 73, was the first policeman on the scene after Ms Eadie's body was found by a couple walking on the beach at Gosford Bay on Sunday, 16 October 1977.
He told the court: "The body was that of a young woman who was naked, auburn haired. She was lying at the high water mark on the beach.
Hands tied
Mr Coates also said there was a ligature, possibly a stocking, round the girl's neck and another stocking, he thought, had been used to tie her hands.
He was also called out later that Sunday when Ms Scott's body was found in a field some seven or eight miles away.
He said he could see she was lying face down and, he thought, naked under a coat which was covering the body.
Her hands were also tied behind her back.
The court heard that an extensive search with tracking dogs over a wide area failed to find any of the girls' missing clothing.
The charges allege that at the time Mr Sinclair was acting along with his now-dead brother-in-law, Gordon Hamilton, who was then 22.
Mr Sinclair claims that any sexual contact with the girls was with their consent and blames Gordon Hamilton for the murders.
The trial continues.The trial continues.