The case against two men accused of murdering missing businesswoman Lynda Spence is a "leaky vessel", a defence lawyer has said.
Evidence used by the Crown to prove Colin Coats and Philip Wade killed the financial adviser has not done so "by a country mile", Derek Ogg, QC, told a jury at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday.
He dismissed the accounts of their former co-accused, David Parker and Paul Smith, as "lies".
Mr Ogg was giving his closing speech at the trial of Coats and Wade, both 42, who deny abducting Ms Spence from a Glasgow street, holding her against her will and torturing her for two weeks at a flat in West Kilbride, Ayrshire, before murdering her and disposing of her body.
Ms Spence has not been seen since April 2011.
Parker, 38, and Smith, 47, have admitted guarding her at Parker's flat in Meadowfoot Road. They have given evidence claiming the 27-year-old was taped to a chair in the attic and repeatedly assaulted by Coats and Wade. Parker and Smith were accused of murder but were cleared when they pled guilty to a reduced charge of holding her against her will and assaulting her.
Mr Ogg, defending Coats, said the Crown's purpose is to prove beyond reasonable doubt his client and Wade killed Ms Spence, but there is no evidence to suggest she is even dead.
"Whatever has happened to Lynda Spence ... she wasn't killed in that house, she wasn't tortured in that house. That's lies," he said. "What a leaky vessel this Crown case has turned out to be."
Speaking of Coats, Mr Ogg said: "There is no evidence he harmed a hair on anyone's head. I'm not running him for office, I'm not entering him in a popularity contest. I'm defending him on a murder charge for a death that did not occur."
Parker and Smith made a "pact with the devil" when they gave their accounts to police, and later in court, Mr Ogg said.
He pointed out their story did not include seeing Ms Spence being assaulted or killed, and the lawyer claimed they only lied that she was when it was pushed on them by detectives.
"[Parker and Smith] can't bring themselves to say those lies," he said. "Nothing they say stacks up or passes any test of common sense. It serves a single purpose: to answer police who are staring down at them saying 'We know what happened, we can prove she was murdered, tortured'."
Mr Ogg also reminded the jury of evidence given by witnesses they saw Ms Spence on dates after it is alleged she died.
Ms Spence could have had a "getaway" stash ready with a bundle of cash and a fake passport, Mr Ogg said.
"We remember the kind of money that went through Lynda Spence's hands in cash: thousands and thousands of pounds.
"There wasn't a person Lynda Spence seems to have met that she didn't extract cash out of, even her own parents.
"Do you not think someone with her connections, her skills, would have a stash somewhere, with a passport, money – maybe in different currencies – a get-away bundle for Lynda to start a new life? We've heard Lynda knew people all over the world."
All parties have now finished their closing submissions. The trial continues on Tuesday.
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