The murder trial of Peter Tobin was halted yesterday after the accused fell ill and was taken to hospital.

Mr Tobin, 62, who is known to have a heart condition, was en route to Chelmsford Crown Court for day three of the trial when he became unwell.

He is accused of abducting and murdering Dinah McNicol, 18, who is alleged to have hitched a lift with him.

Mr Justice Calvert-Smith told jurors: "Unfortunately, this morning the defendant was taken ill. He is currently being examined in hospital."

Mr Tobin, originally from Johnstone in Renfrewshire, was convicted in December last year of the murder of Bathgate teenager Vicky Hamilton.

The bodies of both young women were found lying yards apart in a back garden in Margate, Kent, in November 2007.

During the Vicky Hamilton trial, proceedings were delayed in the first week when Mr Tobin had to be examined by a doctor.

He was also unable to attend an earlier hearing at Linlithgow Sheriff Court after being attacked by an inmate in Saughton Prison.

Dinah McNicol vanished after attending a music festival in Liphook, Hampshire, on August 4 1991.

Her travelling partner David Tremlett told the court this week that they picked up a lift from a man with "straw-coloured hair and a west country accent"

The court was told that, at the time of Ms McNicol's disappearance, Mr Tobin would frequently drive from Scotland to the south coast of England to see his toddler son Daniel, and that he would often be in that area.

However, the jury heard from Mr Tobin's ex-wife Cathy Wilson that the accused, who would have been 45 at the time of the teenager's disappearance, had dark hair and a strong Scottish accent.

It is alleged that Mr Tobin drugged Ms McNicol, who had just finished her A Levels, with amitriptyline and likely also sexually assaulted her. Traces of the same drug were also found in the remains of Vicky Hamilton.

Neighbours of Mr Tobin in Margate told the court earlier this week that they had joked with Mr Tobin as he dug a large hole in his back garden. The accused claimed that he was making a sandpit for his young son but later concreted it over after social services advised him that it was not safe.

Prosecutors claim that the remains of Ms McNicol were found bound together with her leggings and a headscarf, wrapped in rubbish sacks and concealed with concrete slabs.

It is also alleged that Tobin "cleaned out" Ms McNicol's bank account following her disappearance, taking more than £2000 in a series of withdrawls at cash machines along the south coast of England.

Mr Tobin denies all charges against him and the trial is due to continue on Monday.