I didn’t kill her, says Elaine’s brother

THE brother of Elaine Doyle yesterday denied he had killed his sister as another man stood trial for the schoolgirl’s murder.

Under oath in the witness box, John Doyle, 49, admitted he and his sister had been growing apart but dismissed suggestions that he had killed her as ‘ridiculous’.

When questioned about his movements on the night she died, he insisted: ‘I have nothing to hide.’

The trial at the High Court in Edinburgh has heard that Elaine, 16, was found naked and strangled yards from her home in Greenock, Renfrewshire, early on June 2, 1986.

On trial is John Docherty, 49, now of Dunoon, Argyll, who denies murder.

He has given the court a list of 41 possible suspects which, he claims, might include the real culprit. John Doyle’s name is one of those on the list.

Advocate depute John Scullion, prosecuting, asked Mr Doyle: ‘In the early hours of June 2 1986 did you leave the family home?’ Mr Doyle replied: ‘I did not.’

‘Did you kill your sister?’ the prosecutor continued. ‘ I did not,’ repeated Mr Doyle. The suggestion was ‘ridiculous’, he added.

Questioned by defence QC Donald Findlay, Mr Doyle said: ‘We were just normal brother and sister.’

But he added: ‘She was going her way and I was going mine.’

The trial heard that in a later statement to police, Mr Doyle said: ‘When Elaine died we weren’t really talking to each other.’

The trial continues.