A man accused of murdering a missing businesswoman has denied killing her.

Philip Wade, 42, was called as a witness in his own defence at the High Court in Glasgow.

He and Colin Coats, also 42, are on trial charged with abducting, torturing and murdering Lynda Spence. They deny the charges.

Wade was asked by his defence lawyer Gary Allan QC, if he murdered Ms Spence. He replied: "No."

Mr Allan asked him if he helped in, or contributed to, the "murder" of the 27-year-old who disappeared in April 2011.

Wade again replied: "No." He told jurors that he knew of Ms Spence through "fleeting meetings" she had with his friend, Coats.

Father of four Wade said she was an "extrovert" and would "kind of parade whatever she was involved in".

The court also heard claims that Ms Spence "conned" Wade's brother out of £2000 which she never returned.

Mr Allan asked Wade: "Did that fall-out provide a basis for you murdering her?"

Wade said: "No, certainly not."

Coats and Wade also deny holding Ms Spence against her will at a flat in Meadowfoot Road, West Kilbride, Ayrshire, where it is alleged they assaulted her for up to two weeks from April 14, 2011.

Wade told the court he saw Ms Spence enter the flat – which belonged to David Parker, 38 – of her own accord, after following in a "convoy" with Coats's car, in which Wade was a passenger.

"Lynda parked up the road a bit from Colin and the two of them walked in in front of me," he said.

Wade said he had been drinking heavily and went up to the door of the flat to see if he could use the toilet.

But the place was "in a bit of a state" and he did not want to interrupt Coats and Ms Spence, who were having a discussion with Paul Smith, 47, so he relieved himself in the garden, he said.

"When I was out the back I could still hear (Ms Spence) OK. She was fine, just the usual Lynda - she was the main voice in the room," Wade told the court.

Wade admitted to the court he had been a cocaine dealer and that he was in West Kilbride on numerous occasions. Coats often gave him a lift as he was disqualified from driving, he said.

Wade said he never entered the Meadowfoot Road flat and, whenever Coats went to see Ms Spence there, he waited in the car.

Jurors heard he was remanded at the end of 2010 while on an assault charge.

He was later acquitted of that charge.

The trial continues.