Cronberry murder accused maintains innocence

Dec 18 2009 by Lisa Boyle, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

THE MAN accused of killing a mum and daughter will stand trial early in the new year.

Thomas Smith, 26,appeared in the dock at Glasgow High Court this week.

He maintained his pleas of not guilty to raping and murdering Diane Fallon and 10-year-old Holly.

Smith is alleged to have carried out similar attacks on Diane and little Holly at their home in Riverside Gardens, Cronberry.

It is claimed he seized Diane, 43, by the body, bit her, then bound her hands behind her back.

Smith is then said to have removed her clothes and raped the mum before carrying out a separate sex attack.

It is alleged that Diane was murdered by receiving blunt force injuries to her head and body, before she had a ligature tightened around her neck.

Her daughter Holly, who was a pupil at St John’s Primary in Cumnock, is said to have been raped and murdered in an almost identical fashion.

Smith also faces two charges of attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

It is claimed that he took Diane’s body in a car and dumped it in a field between Logan and the A76 Cumnock to Dumfries road.

Smith is said to have covered the body in grass in a bid to avoid detection.

He is accused of submerging Holly’s remains in water near Bellow Bridge in Ayrshire and concealing it under rocks.

He denies all the charges.

Judge Lord Turnbull set a trial for February next year in Glasgow.

It is expected that it could last up to eight days.