Peter Tobin convicted of murdering Dinah McNicol

Dec 24 2009 West Lothian Courier

VICKY Hamilton’s killer was last week convicted of murdering a third young woman.

Peter Tobin, who was already serving sentences for the murders of Vicky and Polish student Angelika Kluk, was convicted of the murder of sixth-former Dinah McNicol.

Tobin (63) from Johnstone, in Renfrewshire, was found guilty of killing the teenager after a three-day trial at Chelmsford Crown Court. The jury had deliberated for just 15 minutes.

Dinah vanished in August 1991 while hitchhiking to her home in Tillingham, Essex, after a music festival in Hampshire.

And just six months earlier, Tobin had killed 15-year-old Vicky Hamilton, who disappeared in Bathgate while waiting for her bus.

Tobin was finally caught in 2006, when he was arrested for killing Polish student Angelika Kluk (23), whose remains were hidden in a church in Glasgow where the handyman had worked.

After he was found guilty of murdering Ms Kluk, police dug up the back garden at one of his former homes in Margate, Kent.

It was there they discovered Vicky's body and Dinah’s remains were found buried nearby four days later.

Both young women had been drugged and forensic tests showed Vicky had been sexually assaulted and Dinah strangled.

Inquiries also revealed Tobin had plundered more than £2000 from Dinah's building society account. Tobin, who denied murder, is serving life sentences for the murders of Vicky and Angelika, a Polish student living in Glasgow.

The Chelmsford jury was not told about Angelika’s murder and Judge Mr Justice Calvert-Smith will impose a life sentence later and recommend a minimum term.

Following Vicky’s trial in 2008 a judge ruled that Tobin must serve at least 30 years before being considered for parole.

Detectives had launched new investigations into the disappearances of Vicky and Dinah after the Polish student’s murder.

They found that in 1991 Tobin had been living near the spot where Vicky vanished.

They also discovered that Tobin often travelled through Hampshire.

Vicky disappeared from a bus stop in Bathgate – where Tobin was living at the time and witnesses said a girl matching her description was seen getting into a car.

Tobin moved from Bathgate to Margate in March 1991, weeks after Vicky disappeared.