A doctor has described the effect of torture injuries it is claimed were inflicted on a missing businesswoman who was allegedly murdered.
Dr David Ritchie, 58, a consultant surgeon in the accident and emergency department of Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow, told a court that having a thumb or the tip of a finger amputated would be "painful".
He was giving evidence at the High Court in Glasgow in the trial of Colin Coats and Philip Wade, both 42, who deny abducting, torturing and murdering 27-year-old Lynda Spence.
They are alleged to have held her at a flat in Meadowfoot Road, West Kilbride, Ayrshire, for up to two weeks, where it is claimed they cut off her thumb, crushed her toe, burned her with an iron, severed the tip of her little finger and beat her with a golf club to extract financial information from her.
Dr Ritchie told jurors that all of these injuries would have been sore, with the amputations and burns possibly leading to infections and further discomfort if they were not cleaned or dressed properly. "It is very difficult to measure pain as it is subjective but in all these cases it is a painful injury," he said.
Some bleeding would have been likely but if pressure was applied to the amputation, or if the severed artery went into spasm, the volume of blood may not have been large, he said.
It has been alleged during the trial that Ms Spence was taped to a chair for 13 days, in the same position and without being allowed to use a proper toilet.
Dr Ritchie said he has no experience of seeing someone confined to one place for this length of time but he told the jury it is possible that someone in this situation would have pressure sores which could be worsened by the presence of urine.
Solicitor general Lesley Thomson QC, prosecuting, asked the consultant if the police would be contacted in a case where a patient was taken to hospital with all of these injuries. He replied that they would.
