Pensioner to face trial over murder of mother more than 30 years ago

A pensioner accused of murdering a woman more than 30 years ago is to go on trial in January 2028.

It is alleged that Fraser Kilpatrick assaulted Shona Stevens, 31, in Bourtreehill Park, Irvine, on 10 November 1994.

Prosecutors allege that he repeatedly struck her on the head with a hammer or similar instrument, causing her to fall to the ground, and then seized and dragged her, leaving her so severely injured that she died on 13 November at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow.

Kilpatrick, 68, also faces 15 other charges including rape and assault involving a number of different adults and children.

Donald Findlay KC entered a plea of not guilty to all charges on behalf of Kilpatrick at a virtual hearing from the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday.

The charges include an allegation that Kilpatrick raped a woman in North Ayrshire between the mid 80s and the mid 1990s, and that he raped a female child between the late 80s and mid 90s.

It is also alleged that he attempted to rape another female girl in the area in the 90s, and used lewd, indecent and libidinous practices towards her.

Kilpatrick also faces several charges of assault including that he allegedly poured boiling water on a child in the 1990s and that he placed a lit flame against the body of three other children on separate occasions.

All the offences are alleged to have happened in North Ayrshire and elsewhere in Scotland.

Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC said it is estimated that the trial will last 17 days.

He told the court: “It is a case of some age. The investigation was wide in scope and there is a lot of material.”

Lord Arthurson fixed the trial date for 31 January 2028 at the High Court in Glasgow and set a further preliminary hearing for 21 December this year at the same court.

Police Scotland previously said Ms Stevens walked to the Co-op shop in Bourtreehill shopping centre at around 1pm on the day she was attacked.

She was last seen walking alone on Towerlands Road at around 1.10pm.

Ten minutes later her body was found in a wooded area near to the rear of Alder Green, just 200 yards from her home.