Man on trial charged with murder of teenager and setting fire to her body

Robert Bayne, 21, is accused of killing Zoe Nelson, 17, in woods in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, on 22 May last year.

The murder charge alleges that he attacked Miss Nelson, of nearby Newmains, with a knife or something similar, and put a plastic sheet over her head.

He is further charged with setting fire to her body and disposing of some of his clothes as part of a plot to cover up the crime. Bayne, from Wishaw, denies all the charges.

He went on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday after the jury was sworn in. The case could last for about six weeks.

It began with the jury being shown more than 20 aerial photographs of the Newmains and Cambusnethan areas.

The shots were taken from a helicopter on 3 June last year by PC Niall McLaren, of Strathclyde Police. The officer talked the jury through a number of streets and buildings shown in the pictures, such as Cambusnethan Street and Manse Road.

Bayne faces seven charges, five of them relating to alleged events on 22 May.

Prosecutors claim that on various occasions that day, and at several locations, Bayne repeatedly shouted and swore, punched a lamppost, brandished a knife and made threats of violence - putting Miss Nelson in a state of "fear and alarm" and committing a breach of the peace.

Bayne denies all the charges. The trial, before Lady Dorrian, continues.