Father tells how he had to identify son’s severed head

Ian Wallace, 51, of Kilmarnock, said he and his wife had chatted to Barry, 18, before he went to a Christmas party in 1999. Their son never returned home and in the following days, body parts were recovered from Loch Lomond. Later, a head was discovered at Barassie on the Ayrshire coast.

Alan Turnbull, QC, asked Mr Wallace: "Were you required to view and identify that head as of your son, Barry?" He replied: "Yes."

The evidence was given at the opening of the trial of William Beggs, 37, who denies murdering Barry Wallace, of Cumbrae Drive, Kilmarnock, and dismembering his body. The charge alleges that in a flat in Doon Place, Bellfield, Kilmarnock, Beggs placed handcuffs on the youth’s arms and legs, punched him, punctured his arm with a needle and sodomised him "...all to his severe injury and did murder him".

It is further claimed that Beggs disposed of parts of the body in Loch Lomond and in the sea at Barassie, Troon.

Mr Wallace said Barry was "quite a quiet, shy boy" and had left school aged 17. He thought about joining the Royal Navy but took the offer of a job with Tesco, where he had worked part-time while at school.

He had a close circle of friends and brought two or three girlfriends home.

Mr Turnbull, prosecuting, asked whether there had ever been anything to suggest that Barry was homosexual. His father stated: "Nothing whatsoever."

Mr Wallace said he and his wife, Christine, who have another son, Colin, 23, had popped into Tesco about 5:30pm on Saturday, 4 December, 1999.

They were to visit friends in Glasgow that night and wanted some sweets for the children and flowers for the wife.

"We bumped into Barry. He had been Christmas shopping and we had done the same. His mum asked him what he wanted for his dinner and when he would be coming up the road," said Mr Wallace, who confirmed it was the last time he had seen Barry alive.

"I phoned him when we got to Glasgow, about 8pm, because his mum had made his dinner and I wanted to make sure he was in, having his dinner, because he was going out to his works Christmas party."

Barry had said that after Tesco’s night out at the Foxbar Hotel in Kilmarnock, he was expecting to meet some friends at a disco in the town centre and possibly go on to a party.

He had added that he probably would not be home that night. "He never came home," said Mr Wallace.

During the Sunday, the worried family contacted as many of Barry’s friends as possible but could not trace him.

By the Monday, his parents were "very concerned" and learned that Barry had not reported for the back shift at his work.

"I went straight to Kilmarnock police office at the back of 5pm on the Monday and reported him missing," said Mr Wallace.

In the following days, he saw on television and read in newspapers of body parts being recovered in and around Loch Lomond.

The next again week, he learned that a head had been discovered on a beach near Troon.

Mr Wallace said he had never heard his son speak of someone called William Beggs. Looking at the accused in the dock, Mr Wallace was asked if he had ever seen him in Barry’s company. "Never," he stated.

Anne Lloyd, 39, a manager at the Tesco store where Barry worked, said he was very popular.

At the Christmas night out, he had "a fair amount to drink" and was enjoying himself.

Later, she saw him walking towards the town centre and he fell. She was in a car and gave him a lift.

Mrs Lloyd said she wanted to drop Barry at his home, but he wanted to go to a disco.

"I tried to encourage him to go home, but he was adamant he was going into town," she added.

After being dropped off, the court heard, Barry got involved in a fight with another youth at a taxi rank.

Graeme Boax, 20, said he and Barry were both drunk. He twice felled Barry with punches but they ultimately shook hands and apologised to each other.

As far as Mr Boax could tell, Barry was uninjured.

The trial continues.