World’s End Murders: Trial bid for Angus Sinclair

Three judges today set aside eight days of court time to hear a bid by prosecutors later this year to have Angus Sinclair stand trial for a second time over the Edinburgh World’s End murders.

The Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Carloway, sitting with Lady Dorrian and Lord Marnoch at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh said a hearing on the Crown application under double jeopardy legislation would begin on October 1.

A further procedural hearing in the case is scheduled for the summer before the final hearing of evidence and submissions.

The Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC asked the judges today to fix a date for the hearing of the Crown’s application with Sinclair, 67, in the dock for the brief court appearance.

In a legal first in Scotland prosecutors want to put him on trial again for the murders of 17-year-olds Christine Eadie and Helen Scott. The two girls were seen leaving the World’s End bar in the Royal Mile before their bodies were found in 1977.

Sinclair stood trial in 2007 at the High Court in Edinburgh accused of murdering them, which he denied. He was acquitted after Lord Clarke upheld a no case to answer submission.

The Crown is now seeking to have the acquittal set aside and to be granted authority for a new prosecution following a change in the law in Scotland.