Four in court on murder charge

The 28-year-old financial adviser from Pollokshields has not been seen since leaving her parents house in Glasgow Harbour, Partick on April 13, earlier this year.

The men – Paul Smith (45) from Largs, Colin Coates (41) from Glasgow along with Philip Wade (40) and David Parker (36) both from West Kilbride – appeared at Kilmarnock sherrif court.

Ms Spence left her parents’ westend home on April 13 and, the following day, they received a text message from her saying she was heading to London.

Since then, her parents have heard nothing.

Despite an old mobile phone belonging to her being found in Kilbirnie in Ayrshire, no further clues have been found as to her whereabouts.

It is believed that Ms Spence – who also went under the names of Lynda Reilly, Lynda Zefaj and Lynda Palmer – was in debt to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds after a series of deals set up by her firm Fraser Developments fell through.

The men were arrested after a protracted period of investigation by police which included the recent search of a house in West Kilbride in Ayrshire.

It is alleged that they tortured Ms Spence before killing her.

None of the four made any plea or declaration and were remanded in custody.

It is expected they will appear again in court next week.

Elsewhere, police have renewed their plea for witnesses over the shooting of a man in Neilston.

John Finnigan (48) was walking on Bank Street when he was approached by a man and shot.

Mr Finnegan was taken to the Southern General hospital where he died a short time later.

The suspect made off along Bank Street on foot and turned into Hillside Road.

He is described as being about 5ft 7ins in height, of stocky build and wearing dark clothing and a dark hat.

Det sup John McSporran said: “Our murder investigation is progressing well and we are encouraged by the results of various lines of inquiry.

“A number of people have been interviewed over the last five days and officers dedicated to this investigation remain focused on tracing the person responsible for this horrific crime.

“I would, however, appeal to anyone living in Hillside Road, Braehead Avenue or Holehouse Road in Neilston, who saw this man running past their home to contact the police”.

n Police are also looking for witnesses after a 15-year-old boy was struck by a car as he was out guising.

He was knocked down as he tried to run across Clarkston Road, near Williamwood Drive, at around 8.35pm last Saturday.

The boy is seriously ill in hospital .

Police said he had been with a group of friends who were in fancy dress.

Sgt David Carballo said: “Most of the group were in fancy dress so would have been noticeable to people in the area.

“Clarkston Road is a very busy area, both with traffic and pedestrians, so there would have been people about who saw what happened”.