A retired policeman has told a murder trial he saw the two girls Angus Sinclair is accused of killing leaving a pub with two men on the night they went missing.

John Rafferty, 57, was on duty outside the World's End pub in Edinburgh where Christine Eadie and Helen Scott had been drinking with friends in 1977.

He was giving evidence yesterday at the trial of Sinclair, 69, who denies raping and murdering the 17-year-olds.

Mr Rafferty was standing on the corner of the street at around 11.20pm when he saw a girl fall backwards. He went to help her to her feet.

Asked by Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland, prosecuting, who the girl was, he said he came to know it was Christine.

"It was really busy and I got her to her feet and I waited for someone to come forward to say they were with this girl," Mr Raffety told the High Court in Livingston.

Helen Scott came forward and he realised they were together. "As they came together I think Helen maybe took a hold of ­Christine to keep her steady and that's when I was aware there was a man near the door just staring at me," Mr Rafferty said.

"The girls were talking about what they were going to do and, from recollection, as they were talking this man comes further forward and there was a debate about whether they were going to take a lift off this person or go on elsewhere.

"I should say at some point the man said 'It's OK, I will give them a lift.'

"There was a discussion, not directly with me, but the man started to come forward to interact with the girls and say that he would take them where they needed to go," he added. Mr Rafferty said the man was wearing unfashionable clothes.

He said the man and two girls started to walk towards a street-corner, and another man joined them. He watched the four walk down St Mary's Street and into a side-street, Boyd's Entry, where he lost sight of them.

The court heard that later the witness was shown a selection of photographs by police in October 2004. He picked out a photograph labelled K which was agreed to be Sinclair.

Asked how sure he was the person in the photo was the man he saw outside the pub, he said: "I couldn't be 100 per cent sure."

Mr Mulholland asked him how sure he was and he said he was "60 per cent" sure it was the first man he saw that night. He admitted under cross-examination that he could have identified the picture from a newspaper image.

The jury of nine women and six men also heard a joint-minute of agreement between the prosecution and the defence. Jurors were told the prosecution and defence agree Ms Eadie's body was found at around 2.25pm on October 16, 1977, at Gosford Bay, Aberlady, and Ms Scott's body was discovered at around 6pm that day in a field near Haddington in East Lothian.

There was alcohol in their blood, with more in Ms Eadie's than in Ms Scott's.

Searches by police found Ms Eadie's jumpsuit and black stiletto ankle-boots, a blue coat with a fur collar, a gold neck chain and a leather handbag which had a lighter with the word "Donny" painted on it, as well as cosmetics and a hairbrush.

Mr Sinclair has submitted three special defences, of incrimination - blaming his brother-in-law Gordon Hamilton, now dead; of alibi - saying he was fishing on the banks of the Firth of Forth near Cockenzie power station at the time of the killings; and of consent to sexual intercourse.

The trial, before judge Lord Matthews, was adjourned until Monday.