Murderer names victim as witness in his proceeds of crime court case
Convict seeks legislation ahead of his hearing
A CONVICTED murderer has listed his victim as a witness for a court hearing due to establish his financial benefit from crime.
Colin Coates put Lynda Spence’s name on a list of defence witnesses and submitted it as part of his preparation for the action in which he is representing himself.
Coates, 46, is serving a minimum of 33 years in jail as part of a life sentence after he was found guilty of the torture and murder of 27-year-old financial adviser Lynda, whose body was not found.
Following his conviction, the Crown raised a proceeds of crime action against Coates.
It was accepted that Coates has no available assets to be seized.
But if a criminal benefit figure is established and assets are found in future, the Crown can return to seek a confiscation order.
Dan Byrne, for the Lord Advocate, argued during a brief hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh that Coates should be ordered to lodge a response to a statement of information in the action.
He said it was also in the interest of the parties if items, such as bank statements, were capable of being agreed. Mr Byrne also wanted to know whether Coates was insisting on a list of witnesses.
He said: “It includes a number of irrelevant witnesses, including the deceased he was convicted of murdering.”
Coates told judge John Morris QC: “A witness list has already been presented and was presented to the court more than three months ago.”
Coates complained about the level of disclosure he had received from the Crown ahead of the hearing and that he had yet to receive a copy of a piece of legislation.
The judge agreed to a continuation in the action, which goes to a full hearing next month. Coates and his accomplice, Philip Wade, forced Lynda into a car on Broomill Path, Glasgow, on April 14, 2011, and drove her to a flat in West Kilbride, Ayrshire. She was then tortured before being killed.
The judge who jailed Coates, Lord Pentland, told him: “You are a highly ruthless and extremely dangerous man.”
“You have a manipulative, devious and cruel personality, allied to a marked tendency to resort to violence when you perceive that you have been thwarted or to advance your own interests.”
Lord Pentland told him he considered he was “the prime mover behind the abduction, torture and murder”.