Lynda Spence jury retire to consider verdict

Two men are accused of torturing and killing the missing financial adviser who was last seen in Glasgow two years ago, in April 2011.

The body of the 27-year-old has never been found. Colin Coats and Philip Wade, both 42, deny her murder.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Lord Pentland told jurors not to let their judgment be swayed by “sympathy” for anyone affected by the case or feelings of “disapproval, revulsion or outrage”.

He told the 14 panel members: “Social or moral judgments have no part to play in a court of law.”

It is alleged that friends Coats and Wade abducted Ms Spence on April 14 2011 and taped her to a chair in an attic at a flat in West Kilbride, Ayrshire.

They held her there for a fortnight as they tried to force her to reveal details of financial deals, prosecutors claim.

The lengthy trial has heard evidence that Ms Spence had a hand in deals involving faked Danish bearer bonds and a land sale at Stansted Airport.

Coats, who provided short-term loans to Ms Spence, held her responsible for losing his money and duping him over deals, according to prosecutors.

When it became clear that she was continuing to mislead them, Coats and Wade murdered her and disposed of her body, the court was told.

Two men - David Parker, 38, and Paul Smith, 47 - claimed they were offered money to guard Ms Spence at the flat.

The pair were charged with her murder but were cleared after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of assault and holding the businesswoman against her will.

Giving evidence at the trial, Coats said Ms Spence arranged to stay in the Meadowfoot Road flat herself.

The accused said she wanted to lie low because of threats from former business associates over an unpaid debt and disappeared from the property one day when Smith and Parker were not there.

A spot of blood identified as Ms Spence’s found on the linoleum floor at the foot of the bath could have been consistent with her ordinary use of the bathroom, Coats’s lawyer has suggested.

The defence said the Crown failed to prove that Ms Spence is even dead, leading evidence from witnesses who claimed to have seen her after she was allegedly killed.

Pc David Whyte, 35, said he saw a woman of “good resemblance” to Ms Spence as he drove along the A83 towards Lochgilphead, Argyll, on June 13 2011.

Ms Spence could have had a “getaway” stash ready with a bundle of cash and a fake passport, said Derek Ogg, defending Coats.

Coats and Wade each face a charge of abducting, assaulting, robbing and murdering Ms Spence, and a second charge of clearing up after the alleged crime in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice.

Coats is accused of a further three charges relating to extortion and robbery.