Four on trial accused of abducting and murdering Glasgow woman Lynda Spence

FOUR men went on trial today accused of abducting and murdering a woman who vanished almost two years ago.

• Lynda vanished on 13 April 2011, and was reported missing a month later

• The charges allege that four men forced her into a vehicle, and drove her to a flat where they held her against her will for up to a fortnight

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• THey are accused of gagging and blindfolding her, tying her to a chair and repeatedly punching and kicking her

Lynda Spence has not been seen since leaving her parents’ home in Glasgow on 13 April 2011.

Her parents, Patricia and James Spence, reported her missing to police a month later.

David Parker, 37, from West Kilbride, Paul Smith, 47, from Largs, Philip Wade, 42, from Glengarnock, all North Ayrshire, and Colin Coats, 42, from Glasgow, are accused of abducting, assaulting and murdering Ms Spence.

The charges allege that on 14 April 2011 the men forced her into a vehicle in Broomhill Path, or somewhere else in Glasgow, and drove her to a flat in Meadowfoot Road, West Kilbride, where they held her against her will for up to two weeks.

They are accused of gagging and blindfolding her, tying her to a chair with tape and repeatedly punching and kicking her.

Prosecutors also claim the men crushed Ms Spence’s toes, burned her hands with lit cigarettes and an iron, cut off her thumb and severed the tip of one of her fingers.

They are also accused of robbing her of a mobile phone and sim card, as well as demanding bank account details and information about financial dealings they believed she was involved in.

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Ms Spence, who was 27 when she disappeared, was declared bankrupt at Glasgow Sheriff Court in December 2008 but was discharged the following year. She was known to use aliases, Lynda Zefaj, Lynda De-bono, Lynda Palmer and Linda Riley.

Coats is alleged to have intimidated Ms Spence, and a man named Seyed Alagha, to extort money from them.

Wade is accused of sending text messages to Ms Spence, threatening her with violence.

In the month before Ms Spence disappeared, Coats is accused of assaulting her by handling her breasts and making homophobic remarks to her, aggravated by prejudice relating to sexual orientation.

All four men face further charges of attempting to cover up the crime by cutting off Ms Spence’s head, removing her remains from the West Kilbride flat and destroying, or disposing of, a car and mobile phones.

It is also alleged they bleached the floors, walls, furniture and fittings of the property, as well as pulling up carpets and laying new floorboards and removing various items of furniture.

The Crown also claims that while awaiting trial, Coats asked another inmate at Addiewell Prison in West Lothian to arrange for someone who looked like Ms Spence to attend a solicitor’s office to give the impression she was still alive.

In total, Parker, Smith, Wade and Coats face 26 charges, to all of which they plead not guilty.