A man once described in court as "a fighting machine" shed tears yesterday for a nursery nurse murdered more than 27 years ago.

But Brian Lindsay, 50, insisted he had nothing to do with Elizabeth McCabe's disappearance in February 1980.

Her naked body was found in Templeton Woods, Dundee, 16 days after a night out with friends at a city centre disco.

The handbag she had been carrying was found close to Mr Lindsay's then home in the city's Logie Street.

On trial at the High Court in Edinburgh is Vincent Simpson, 61, now of Camberley, Surrey, who ran a taxi business in the Dundee area at the time.

He denies murdering Miss McCabe, 20, by striking her on the head and compressing her neck, claiming he has an alibi for the night she disappeared.

His lawyers have also drawn up a list of 13 names, saying one or more of the men on the list could be the real killer.

Mr Lindsay's name is first on the list. Before giving his evidence, judge Lord Kinclaven told him he did not have to answer any question which might incriminate him.

The court heard yesterday that the former saw mill worker's own mother was terrified of him, claiming he had splintered her rib during a beating and punctured her lung.

She told a social worker that if she went to police and got Mr Lindsay "put away" again he would return and kill her.

The alleged incident - which Mr Lindsay claims is all lies - was said to have happened soon after Mr Lindsay was released from a three-year sentence for a street fight when a youth's hand was almost completely severed by a boning knife wielded by a teenage Mr Lindsay.

Mr Lindsay also admitted that only six months ago he was convicted of an assault on his wife when they rolled together in "jaggy nettles" after a drunken row - but said his wife had admitted to the court that it was "50-50".

In court he was accused by Mark Stewart, QC, defending Mr Simpson, of other violent incidents involving women, which Mr Lindsay denied.

In 1987 Sheriff Louden Cox, QC, described Mr Lindsay as a "fighting machine" after hearing details of a fight outside Littlewoods, not far from one of the Dundee city centre pubs frequented by Mr Lindsay.

Advocate-depute Alex Prentice, QC, prosecuting, asked Mr Lindsay, now a machine technician working off-shore, about the events of February 1980.

Mr Lindsay described his usual Sunday habit of drinking with friends after watching their team, Claverhouse FC. During the night he saw Miss McCabe, with her friend Sandra Niven, but they never spoke.

As he left the pub, he said, she gave him a little wave and he returned the gesture.

Mr Prentice asked: "Did you have anything to do with her disappearance?" Mr Lindsay replied: "No, none whatsoever."

Asked if he could form a view about what happened to her, Mr Lindsay said he could not then paused, wiping his eyes and clearly distressed.

After a couple of seconds he apologised and continued with his evidence.

Mr Lindsay described Miss McCabe as so shy that getting her to speak was like "drawing teeth". The only times he saw her alone her friend, Sandra, wasn't far away - dancing in a disco perhaps while Miss McCabe stood at the bar.

"She was only a wee lassie and she wasn't streetwise," said Mr Lindsay.

He said he did not have a clue what had happened to her, but asked about his feelings when Miss McCabe was missing from her home in Lochee, Dundee, he said: "You always have to think the worst, don't you. Especially a wee lassie."

He told how Elizabeth's parents were "cracking up" when they came to visit him, pleading for any help he could give in getting their daughter home.

Mr Lindsay told the trial that murder hunt detectives had questioned him "over and over and over and over again," starting on the day when Elizabeth's body was found.

He reckoned he had given between 14 and 18 statements.

The trial continues.