Jump to content

Peter Tobin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 194.189.32.65 (talk) at 12:36, 2 January 2009 (→‎Rape of juveniles: NPOV). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the businessman, see Peter J. Tobin.
Peter Britton Tobin
Born (1946-08-27) 27 August 1946 (age 78)
Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland
NationalityBritish
Other namesPat McLaughlin, James Kelly
OccupationHandyman
Known forConvicted murderer and sex offender

Peter Britton Tobin[1] (born in 1946 in Johnstone, Renfrewshire) is a Scottish convicted murderer and sex offender, and is currently serving a life sentence with a recommended minimum of 30 years.

Tobin served ten years in prison for a double rape committed in 1993. Released in 2004, in 2007 he was sentenced to a minimum of 21 years for the rape and murder of Angelika Kluk in Glasgow in 2006. Skeletal remains of two further young women who went missing in 1991 were found at his former home in Margate, Kent. Tobin was convicted of the murder of one of the victims in December 2008 and is awaiting trial for the other murder. He is also being investigated for other unsolved cases of murder dating back to the 1960s.

Convictions

Rape of juveniles

In 1993, Tobin decided to meet two 14-year old girls babysitting his son at his flat in Havant, Hampshire. After holding them at knifepoint and forcing them to drink strong cider and vodka, he sexually assaulted and raped them.[2][3] To avoid arrest, Tobin went on the run and hid in a religious retreat in Warwickshire under a false name, but he was recognised and arrested after appearing on the BBC Crimewatch programme.[4]

In 1994, at Winchester Crown Court, Tobin pleaded guilty, and received a 14-year prison sentence. He was released in 2004, and moved to Paisley, Renfrewshire.[4]

Angelika Kluk murder

Main article: Angelika Kluk murder case

In September 2006, Tobin was working as a church handyman at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Anderston, Glasgow. He had assumed the name "Pat McLaughlin" to avoid detection, as he was still on the Violent and Sex Offender Register following his 1994 convictions for rape and assault. An arrest warrant was issued for him in November 2005 after he had moved from Paisley without notifying the police, but he was not discovered until becoming a suspect in a murder case at the church. In May 2007 he received a further 30-month sentence for breaching the terms of the register.[5][6][7]

Angelika Kluk was a 23-year-old student from Skoczow, near Krakow in Poland. She was staying at the chapel house of St Patrick's Church, where she worked as a cleaner to help finance her Scandinavian Studies course at Gdańsk University. She was last seen alive in the company of Peter Tobin on 24 September 2006, and is thought to have been attacked by him in the garage attached to St Patrick's chapel house. She was beaten, raped, and stabbed to death, then her body was concealed in an underground chamber beneath the floor near the confessional in the church. Forensic evidence suggested that she was still alive when she was placed under the floorboards.[3] Police found her body on 29 September,[8] and Tobin was arrested in London shortly afterwards.[9] He had been admitted to hospital under a false name, and with a fictitious complaint.[10]

A six-week trial resulted from the evidence gathered under the supervision of Detective Superintendent David Swindle of Strathclyde Police and took place at the High Court of Justiciary, Edinburgh, between 23 March and 4 May 2007.[11]

The trial judge was Lord Menzies, the prosecution was led by Advocate Depute Dorothy Bain, and the defence by Donald Findlay QC.[12] Tobin denied raping and murdering Ms Kluk and claimed she had consented to have sex with him.

Tobin was found guilty of raping and murdering Angelika Kluk and was sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 21 years. In sentencing Tobin, Judge Lord Menzies described him as "an evil man".[13]

Vicky Hamilton murder

In June 2007, Tobin's home in early 1991 in Bathgate, West Lothian, was searched by police in connection with the disappearance of a 15-year old girl, Vicky Hamilton, who was last seen on 10 February 1991 as she waited for a bus home to Redding, near Falkirk. She had been visiting her older sister, Sharon, in Livingston, West Lothian and was waiting to change buses in Bathgate. The last sighting of her was as she was eating chips on a bench in the town centre. Tobin is believed to have left the town a few weeks after her disappearance.[14]

On 21 July 2007, Lothian and Borders Police released a statement that they had "arrested, cautioned and charged a male in connection with the matter", but did not immediately confirm the identity of the man arrested.[15] The investigation later led to a forensic search of a house in Southsea, Hampshire in early October 2007, where Tobin is believed to have lived shortly after leaving Bathgate.[16]

On 14 November 2007, Lothian and Borders Police confirmed that human remains found in the back garden of 50 Irvine Drive,[17] a house in Margate, Kent, occupied later in 1991 by Tobin were those of Vicky Hamilton.[18]

After a month long trial, Tobin was convicted of the murder of Vicky Hamilton on 2 December 2008 at the High Court in Dundee.[19][20]. Tobin was again defended by Donald Findlay QC and the prosecution was led by the Solicitor General for Scotland, Frank Mulholland QC. The prosecution case went beyond the circumstance of Tobin having lived at the two houses in Bathgate and Margate in 1991 and consisted of eyewitness testimony of suspicious behaviour by Tobin at the Bathgate house,[21] evidence to destroy his alibi, [22] and forensic evidence of DNA and fingerprints left on a dagger found in the Bathgate House, on Vicky Hamilton's purse and on the sheeting her body was wrapped in. [23]

When sentencing Tobin to life imprisonment, the judge, Lord Emslie, said:

"You stand convicted of the truly evil abduction and murder of a vulnerable young girl in 1991 and thereafter of attempting to defeat the ends of justice in various ways over an extended period... Yet again you have shown yourself to be unfit to live in a decent society. It is hard for me to convey the loathing and revulsion that ordinary people will feel for what you have done... I fix the minimum period which you must spend in custody at 30 years. Had it been open to me I would have made that period run consecutive to the 21 year custodial period that you are already serving. But given the age of these offences the law says that I cannot go down that road and so the 30 year period will simply run from today’s date."[24]

On 11 December 2008, Tobin gave formal notice to court officials that he intends to challenge the guilty verdict and overturn the prison sentence imposed on him. Tobin's defence team is not required to describe the grounds for this appeal until a later date in the appeals process.[25]

Further cases

Dinah McNicol murder

Dinah McNicol, an 18-year old school-leaver from Tillingham, Essex, was last seen alive on 5 August 1991. She was hitchhiking home with a male companion from a music festival at Liphook, Hampshire. He was dropped off at Junction 8 of the M25 near Reigate, and she stayed in the car with the driver. She was never seen again. After her disappearance, regular withdrawals of £250 were made from her building society account at cash points in the UK south coast counties of Hampshire and Sussex. This was seen as highly unusual as she was not materialistic, making her own clothes and jewellery or buying them from charity shops. She had told friends and family she intended to use the money in her building society account to travel or further her education. In late 2007, Essex Police reopened the investigation into her disappearance following new leads. [26]

On 16 November 2007, a second body was found at 50 Irvine Drive in Margate. This was later confirmed by police to be that of Dinah McNicol. [27]

On 1 September 2008, the Crown Prosecution Service served a summons on Tobin's solicitors, formally accusing him of Dinah McNicol's murder. He was due to appear at Colchester Magistrates Court on 18 September. [28][29]

References

  1. ^ "Peter Tobin on murder charge". The Daily Telegraph. 2007-11-16. Retrieved 2007-11-22.
  2. ^ Gavin Madely (2006-05-07). "Rape victim of Angelika Kluk murderer hits out early release that left him free to kill". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 2007-11-18. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b David Lohr (2007-11-14). "Essex Police Find Skeletal Remains at Former Home of Convicted Killer Peter Tobin". Crime Library. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  4. ^ a b Jonathan Lessware (2007-05-04). "Sex killer Tobin's violent past". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  5. ^ "Second jail term for Kluk killer". BBC News. 2007-05-22. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  6. ^ Mark Macaskill; Jason Allardyce (2006-10-01). "Church murder suspect is fugitive sex offender". The Times. Retrieved 2008-12-04.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Gavin Madeley (2007-05-23). "The betrayal of Angelika - How could they let him escape?" (PDF). The Daily Mail. p. 10. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  8. ^ "Body found in Glasgow church". The Times. 2006-09-30. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  9. ^ David Lister (2006-10-02). "Sister writes of her anguish over student found murdered in church". The Times. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  10. ^ "Witness tells Kluk trial of hearing 'horrible' screams". The Scotsman. 2006-04-19. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
  11. ^ "Timeline: Angelika murder case". BBC News. 2007-05-07. Retrieved 2007-08-04..
  12. ^ "Key figures in Angelika Kluk trial". BBC News. 2007-05-07. Retrieved 2007-08-04..
  13. ^ "Tobin guilty of Angelika's murder". BBC News. 2006-05-04. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
  14. ^ Ian Swanson (2007-07-17). "Vicky: 16-year mystery close to an end". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
  15. ^ "Man arrested over missing Vicky". BBC News. 2007-07-21. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
  16. ^ Adam Morris (2007-10-03). "Vicky hunt heads south". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
  17. ^ 51°22′35.83″N 1°24′32.27″E / 51.3766194°N 1.4089639°E / 51.3766194; 1.4089639
  18. ^ "Police ID body in Peter Tobin garden". Sky News. 2007-11-14. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  19. ^ "Trial announced for Vicky accused". BBC News. 2008-06-10. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  20. ^ "Tobin guilty of schoolgirl murder". BBC. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
  21. ^ "Vicky trial told about home swap". BBC News. 2008-11-13. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  22. ^ "Neighbour 'spotted Vicky accused'". BBC News. 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  23. ^ "How forensic science caught Tobin". BBC News. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  24. ^ HMA v Peter Britton Tobin - High Court ruling
  25. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7777787.stm
  26. ^ Kim Perks (2007-11-05). "What happened to Dinah McNicol?". Essex Police. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  27. ^ "Second body confirmed as Dinah's". BBC News. 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
  28. ^ "Man accused of teenager's murder". BBC News. 2008-09-01. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  29. ^ "Dinah McNicol Murder Charge". Essex FM. Retrieved 2008-12-04.


Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Tobin&oldid=261443463"