Three deny murder

A WOMAN who used to be a man yesterday denied participating in a brutal Fife murder.

Paris Green, 21, also known as Peter Laing, appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh along with Kevin McDonagh, 23, and Dean Smith, 20.

All three deny murdering 45-year-old Robert Shankland in Glenrothes.

The charge alleges that Mr Shankland was held against his will at the house where the three accused lived in Brodie Court on the night of March 25/26.

There he was allegedly beaten with fists and feet and “an unknown implement”, his hands tied and a ligature put round his neck. The murder charge goes on that plastic bags were placed over Mr Shankland’s head, that he suffered a serious indecent assault and was left to die.

The three are accused of robbing him of mobile phones, a post office card and clothing.

Green and McDonagh have lodged papers in court claiming that anything they might have done was in self defence, or defence of another.

The two also deny using Mr Shankland’s post office card in an attempt to steal from a cash machine.

All three accused also face a charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by attempting to wash away blood stains and attempting to borrow a vehicle to get rid of the body.

Judge Lord Pentland fixed a trial date in September at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Picture: Rob Mcdougall. Scottish actor Ewan McGregor took time out from a family trip to visit Rachel House, the children’s hospice, in Kinross. Emily, left, and Lilly Horrocks have fun with cakes featuring Ewan’s face. See full report on page 14.