Shona Stevens: Man to stand trial over murder in Scotland in 1994

A man is to stand trial over the murder of a woman in North Ayrshire more than 30 years ago.

Fraser Kilpatrick, 68, is accused of fatally assaulting Shona Stevens, 31, in Bourtreehill Park, Irvine, on 10 November 1994.

Prosecutors allege that he repeatedly struck her on the head with a hammer or similar instrument, causing her to fall to the ground, and then seized and dragged her, leaving her so severely injured that she died in hospital three days later.

Kilpatrick additionally faces 15 other charges, including rape and assault involving a number of different adults and children.

Defence advocate Donald Findlay KC entered a plea of not guilty to all charges on behalf of his client at a virtual hearing from the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday.

The charges include an allegation that Kilpatrick raped a woman in North Ayrshire, who has since died, between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s, and that he raped a girl between the late-1980s and mid-1990s.

It is also alleged that he attempted to rape another girl in the area in the 1990s.

Kilpatrick also faces several charges of assault, including that he allegedly poured boiling water on a child in the 1990s and that he placed a lit flame against the body of three other children on separate occasions.

All the offences are alleged to have happened in North Ayrshire and elsewhere in Scotland.

Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC said it is estimated that the trial will last 17 days.

He told the court: "It is a case of some age. The investigation was wide in scope and there is a lot of material."

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Ms Stevens was attacked after leaving Bourtreehill shopping centre and was discovered seriously injured in a wooded area to the rear of Alder Green, nearly 200m from her home.

She died in hospital on 13 November 1994.

The mother-of-one's family has never given up their campaign for justice, and in November 2024 a £20,000 reward was offered by Crimestoppers for information that could help catch and convict her killer.

Appealing for fresh information, her daughter, Candice, and mother, Mhairi Smith, said: "There is not a day that goes by that she is not in our thoughts and in our hearts."

Lord Arthurson fixed a trial date for 31 January 2028 at the High Court in Glasgow.

A further preliminary hearing is scheduled to take place in December this year.

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