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A man abducted and murdered two teenage girls and buried them in the garden of his Margate home where their bodies lay undiscovered for 16 years, a court heard today.
Handyman Peter Tobin picked up hitchhiker Dinah McNicol, 18, as she travelled home from a music festival in Hampshire in 1991, the jury was told. He then plundered her bank account of money she had received as compensation for the loss of her mother in a road accident, the court heard.
It was not until November 2007 that her body was found in Tobin's garden. But this gruesome discovery came four days after another corpse was found in the garden. This was Vicky Hamilton, 15, who had disappeared in Scotland in February 1991. Both bodies were wrapped in rubbish bags and buried within feet of each other. Tobin, now 62, has already been convicted of Vicky's murder.
Dinah had been drugged with Amitriptyline which causes drowsiness and dizziness, the court heard today. Tobin had once been admitted to hospital having taken an overdose of it. He had also used the drug to stupefy two 14-year-old girls, and was convicted in 1994 of attacking them.
When Dinah's body was discovered, it was clear she had been bound and gagged, with her arms tied behind her back, the court heard. A knotted gag was found in her mouth. The bags used to wrap her body were covered in Tobin's fingerprints. Mr Clegg told the jury that Tobin's neighbour saw him digging the grave in which Dinah's body was later found.
Today the last known moments of Dinah's life were described to Chelmsford crown court by William Clegg QC, prosecuting. Dinah lived in Tillingham, near Chelmsford, with her family including father Ian who was in court today for the first day of the trial. She had just taken her A-levels and achieved four passes but was never to know the results before she disappeared.
In August 1991 she went to a festival in Liphook and on the day she disappeared was travelling home with her boyfriend David Tremlett. They were picked up by a white man in his forties on the A3 and the boyfriend was dropped off at junction eight on the M25 near Ryegate.
Mr Clegg said: “The boyfriend invited Dinah to go back to his house with him but she refused, saying she was going home. He left Dinah sitting in the front passenger seat. No one Dinah knew ever saw or heard from her again.” Dinah's father reported her missing but no trace was discovered until November 2007. Mr Clegg said: “Suspicion fell on Peter Tobin and police searched his house and garden. Excavation revealed two plastic rubbish sacks, each containing half the body of a young girl whose corpse had literally been cut in half at the waist.”
This was the body of Vicky who could be identified only by her teeth. The cause of her death has never been ascertained. Four days later Dinah's body was discovered. She was still wearing jewellery she had taken to the festival. Tobin denies her murder. The case continues.
