Scone man appears in court again in murder case

Oct 16 2009 by Les Stewart, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

A SCONE businessman made a second appearance in private at Perth Sheriff Court yesterday afternoon, charged with murdering a lorry driver whose body has never been found.

The crime is alleged to have been committed almost a decade ago at a house in Errol – or elsewhere.

Thirty-seven-year-old Thomas Pryde, described as a prisoner in Edinburgh, was fully committed for trial and was remanded in custody.

It is alleged that he assaulted Adam Neil McTavish – also known as Adam Neil Alexander – at his home at Atholl Cottage, High Street, Errol, on November 14, 1999.

The charge alleges that he repeatedly struck him with a metal object or, by some other willful act, caused the destruction of his life and did murder him. The petition further alleges that Pryde then disposed of the body at an unknown location.

Pryde, who previously ran a plumbing and heating business, was represented by Perth solicitor John McLaughlin.

Earlier this year Mr Alexander’s mother, Tricia Bremner, lodged a petition at Perth Sheriff Court to have her 38-year-old son formally declared dead.