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Dolina abduction caught on CCTV Body-in-ditch accused 'giggled'
(40 minutes later)
The abduction of a retired nurse whose body was later found in a shallow grave was caught on CCTV cameras, a murder trial has heard. A man accused of murdering an elderly woman giggled as he described burying her body, his murder trial heard.
Det Con David Macleod said officers investigating the disappearance of Dolina MacLean, 87, saw her car being driven from a Perth car park last May. It was alleged former French Foreign Legionnaire John Lawson said: "I buried her in a shallow grave. It was just like we dug in the army."
Ms MacLean's body was eventually discovered in June 2008. Prison officer Nicola Hunter told the High Court in Edinburgh how she had overheard the conversation while on duty in Perth Prison.
Former French Foreign Legionnaire John Lawson, 48, on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, denies murder. Mr Lawson denies murdering 87-year-old Dolina MacLean.
He also denies attempting to defeat the ends of justice by burying Ms MacLean's body. Mr Lawson was in the prison after being accused of murdering retired nurse Miss MacLean.
The detective said the footage showed a red Volvo estate pulling into a parking space about 0920 GMT on 30 May at Tesco in Perth, followed four minutes later by a green Astra. He was said to have abducted her from a Tesco car park in Perth and forced her to drive along lonely country roads before ordering her out of her green Astra.
About a few minutes later you briefly see somebody coming across, walking across from the top of the car park towards the green Astra Det Con David Macleod The trial has heard how Mr Lawson confessed to police that he left his red Volvo to try to steal a green Astra when Ms MacLean, of Stanley, in Perthshire, was at the wheel. CCTV cameras
He made her drive along country roads before ordering her out of the vehicle in Saddlebrae Wood, Moneydie. Ms Hunter said she approached Mr Lawson's cell on her rounds to check through the spy hole in the door that all was in order.
Mr Lawson claims that Ms MacLean then collapsed and died and he left her there, returning six days later to bury the body in a shallow grave at woodland in Knowehead. She overheard "loud giggling and laughing and conversation between two prisoners".
Det Con Macleod said the person who left the green Astra in Tesco's car park appeared to make two shopping trips before finally returning to the car at 1044 GMT. The other prisoner said something and then Mr Lawson made his reply about the shallow grave, she said.
He said: "About a few minutes later you briefly see somebody coming across, walking across from the top of the car park towards the green Astra." Earlier, the court heard that the abduction of retired nurse Miss MacLean was caught on CCTV cameras.
Drainage ditch Det Con David Macleod said officers investigating her disappearance saw her car being driven from a Perth car park last May.
The green car then headed for the entrance, he said, in a lane which would have taken the Astra towards Saddlebrae Woods. Ms MacLean's body was eventually discovered in June.
At 1207 GMT the driver of the red Volvo returned and that car drove away. At the end of the Crown case on Tuesday, defence QC Gordon Jackson said Mr Lawson would not be giving evidence.
The trial also heard that the drive from the Crieff Road, Perth, to the lay-by, where Ms MacLean is said to have died, took about 20 minutes.
Mr Lawson is accused of getting into Ms MacLean's car at the supermarket car park in Crieff Road, Perth, on 30 May last year and demanding that she drive off, placing her in a state of "fear, alarm and distress".Mr Lawson is accused of getting into Ms MacLean's car at the supermarket car park in Crieff Road, Perth, on 30 May last year and demanding that she drive off, placing her in a state of "fear, alarm and distress".
Ms MacLean's body was found in woods near DunningThe charge alleges that the accused later ordered her to swap seats and drove the car to a farm lane in Moneydie in Perthshire. Dolina MacLean's body was found buried in woods in PerthshireThe charge alleges that the accused later ordered her to swap seats and drove the car to a farm lane in Moneydie in Perthshire.
It is alleged he assaulted the pensioner and tried to force her to walk up a woodland path "for a purpose unknown".It is alleged he assaulted the pensioner and tried to force her to walk up a woodland path "for a purpose unknown".
Mr Lawson is then said to have dragged and carried her to Saddlebrae Wood, where he abandoned the unconscious or dead woman.Mr Lawson is then said to have dragged and carried her to Saddlebrae Wood, where he abandoned the unconscious or dead woman.
The indictment accuses Mr Lawson of failing to get medical help and having a "wicked and reckless disregard" for the consequences of his actions.The indictment accuses Mr Lawson of failing to get medical help and having a "wicked and reckless disregard" for the consequences of his actions.
A second charge alleges that between 30 May and 6 June Mr Lawson returned to the wood, where he picked up her body and drove to Knowehead Woodland, near Dunning.A second charge alleges that between 30 May and 6 June Mr Lawson returned to the wood, where he picked up her body and drove to Knowehead Woodland, near Dunning.
It is claimed that he put the pensioner's body into a drainage ditch and hid it with soil and other debris.It is claimed that he put the pensioner's body into a drainage ditch and hid it with soil and other debris.
The trial continues.The trial continues.