Peter Tobin to launch appeal over life sentence
Serial killer Peter Tobin is expected to appear in court today as he appeals against a murder sentence.
Tobin, who is serving life for murdering three young women, will appear before the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh as he challenges a 30-year term for the killing of Vicky Hamilton.
The 15-year-old was abducted in Bathgate in West Lothian in 1991.
Her remains were found 17 years later buried in the garden of Tobin's former home in Margate, Kent.
Judge Lord Emslie branded him "unfit to live in a decent society" following his conviction at the High Court in Dundee in December 2008.
He imposed a life term, with a minimum term of 30 years before Tobin could be considered for parole.
The killer lodged a notice with the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh stating that he planned to challenge the sentence, which was one of the stiffest ever imposed by a Scottish court.
An appeal hearing scheduled for April 15 was postponed when the former handyman fell ill and spent a number of days in hospital.
Tobin is serving a further two life sentences for the murders of Polish student Angelika Kluk and Dinah McNicol.
Miss Kluk, 23, was raped and killed by Tobin at a Glasgow church in September 2006.
Miss McNicol, 18, vanished in August 1991 while hitchhiking to her home in Tillingham after leaving a music festival in Liphook, Hampshire.
Her remains were found alongside those of Miss Hamilton following the setting up of Operation Anagram, the national police operation to track Tobin's past.
Officers have this month been searching two properties in East Sussex where Tobin lived in the 1980s.
Detectives said on Tuesday that a probe at a building in Station Road, Portslade, had found no fresh evidence linking him with further crimes.
Officers are now concentrating their efforts on a second address in Marine Parade, Brighton.
Miss Hamilton's father, Michael, and Miss McNicol's father, Ian, were due to attend today's hearing, the Daily Record reported.
Mr Hamilton told the newspaper: "Even if the judge says we will take 10 years off, what benefit is that to him?
"He is in jail until he dies."
