Four men to face murder trial next year over body dumped in field

Four men will stand trial next June for the murder of a 50-year-old man whose body was found in a field in Renfrewshire.

Brian O'Neill, 39, Andrew Brodie, 51, Stephen Shields, 44, and Gary McGowan, 36, are accused of attacking Robert Best at a flat in Greenock last November.

It is alleged that he was beaten and stabbed to death before his body was dumped at High Mathernock Farm near Kilmacolm.

Two women, Dorothy Shields, 65, and Nicola Campbell-Brisland, 42 are also charged with attempting to defeat the ends of justice. All six pled not guilty.

At the High Court in Glasgow a trial date was set for 21 June next year.

Best's body was discovered hours after he was reported missing from Greenock.

The charges say the suspects tried to clean the flat in Lansbury Street and dispose of items used in an attack.

Best's body was then wrapped in a rug and put in the boot of a car, which was driven to a lay-by in Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire.

An attempt was made to set the body and the man's clothes on fire.

Gary McGowan is also separately accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice by going into "hiding" after the alleged murder.

He and Shields face further charges of assaulting another man at the same flat on the same date as Best's death.

The case is expected to last about 15 days.