Trial date set for Kilwinning murder accused
John Taylor, 44, was found with fatal injuries on his doorstep in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, at around 1.55pm on October 18.
He was pronounced dead by emergency services, and police launched a murder investigation.
Kieran Lindsay, 20, Marshall Strachan, 21, and Kiey O'Connor, 28, were all charged with murder and attacking Mr Taylor with a knife at his home in Pollock Crescent, Kilwinning, and all three are also accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Prosecutors alleged that the men were masked as they carried out the fatal attack on Mr Taylor at a neighbouring address, according to court paperwork, which listed a total of seven offences.
Lindsay and O'Connor were also charged with dealing cocaine from an address on the same street, for five days before the murder, as well as other addresses in Ayrshire, and both face a charge of dealing cannabis.
Lindsay was also accused of dealing cocaine between August 1 and October 12, and faces a total of five charges, including attempting to pervert the course of justice.
He was alleged to have accompanied Strachan to Glasgow on October 18 where the pair allegedly turned their mobile phones off, and both were charged with attempting to pervert the court of justice.
Strachan is accused of disposing of a knife in a bid to pervert the course of justice, while Lindsay is accused of burning clothes, with locations cited including a beach in Troon, Ayrshire, as well as locations in Glasgow in the four days after the murder.
Lindsay is also accused of telling his girlfriend to dispose of a knife and her mobile phone and SIM card, 'and not disclose what she knew', in a bid to avoid detection.
The day after the murder, on October 19, O'Connor allegedly contacted a man on Facebook Messenger and offered to sell him his car for £40, and cannabis for £60, 'to avoid detection, arrest and prosecution', according to the indictment.
At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday at the High Court in Glasgow, a trial date was set for June 22 2026, at the same court.
The trial is expected to last ten days.
The court heard that Lindsay and Strachan were both remanded at Polmont Young Offenders Institution.
Prosecutor Erin Campbell said: 'There are some witnesses who would ordinarily be considered remote witnesses who the Crown have ordered to be in person.
'The reason those witnesses be allowed to come in person is I will variously be asking them to identify the accused.'
A preliminary hearing has been set for October 14 at the High Court in Glasgow.
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