Man guilty of murdering army veteran and hiding body

A man who murdered an army veteran "for financial gain" and left his body in a disused industrial unit has been jailed.

David Barnes, 33, killed Ean Coutts, 60, by "means unknown" in 2019.

He then attempted to set fire to the remains, which were discovered months later in Glenrothes, Fife, by an urban explorer.

Jurors returned guilty verdicts to charges of murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

At the High Court in Edinburgh Lord Mulholland remanded Barnes in custody ahead of sentencing next month.

He told the killer: "You murdered a man who was going about his daily business and you murdered this man for financial gain.

"Having murdered him you embarked upon an elaborate scheme to hide this murder.

"Your pack of lies unravelled. What you did was despicable."

The jury heard how Barnes killed Mr Coutts on 3 September 2019 either at his house in Kinglassie, Fife, or elsewhere in Scotland.

Barnes then removed his body from the property in a wheelie bin.

He then drove to the industrial unit where he abandoned Mr Coutts' remains in a cupboard.

The court heard how Barnes then assumed Mr Coutts' identity and withdrew more than £5,000 of the victim's money, which he used to buy "goods and services".

A police investigation was launched after Mr Coutts' skeletal remains were discovered by an urban explorer in September 2020.

Officers then managed to gather enough evidence to bring Barnes, of Cardenden, Fife, to justice.

Barnes was originally standing trial on a total of 36 charges which included allegations of theft and fraud.

However, prosecutors withdrew the fraud and theft charges at the end of the Crown case.

On the first day of proceedings, James Fenton, 37, said he was looking around a unit at the Whitehill industrial estate in Glenrothes, when he saw what he thought were animal bones or a prop.

He said he called the police when he saw a skull among the debris.

Barnes will be sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on 13 December.