Game of cat and mouse

CATHY Wilson fled Robertson Avenue, Bathgate, with her son just three months before Peter Tobin snatched teenager Vicky Hamilton from a bus stop in the town.

But miles away in Portsmouth, Cathy had no idea that Vicky’s disappearance had made national headlines.

Later, she was forced to return to the semi-detached house after Tobin snatched their young son, Daniel, taking him back to Bathgate.

There, she found herself having to plead with Tobin – even promising to return to the marriage – in order to convince him to reunite her with her son.

Tobin fell for her promises and set off with her to Portsmouth, where court officials forced him to hand over the child.

Years later, forensic tests on Vicky’s purse would find traces of young Daniel’s DNA – raising the chilling notion that the schoolgirl’s body and possessions were in the house at the time.

Tobin, now 65, was arrested in 2006 following the murder of Polish student Angelika Kluk. Police later searched his former property in the south of England and discovered Vicky’s remains, along with those of 18-year-old Dinah McNicol.

The UK-wide police investigation, codenamed Operation Anagram, to look into his background has recently been wound up.