A PAISLEY man has appeared in court charged with murder after a headless and limbless body was found in a bin.

David Collins, 46, is accused of killing 32-year-old Kevin Bishop by unknown means before chopping up his body and disposing of it.

He is also said to have tried to clean his flat, where prosecutors claim he murdered Mr Bishop, so there was no trace of the deceased.

Prosecutors claim Collins murdered Mr Bishop, who was reported missing on August 4, just hours after he was last seen on July 27.

Collins, of Schaw Road, Gallowhill, is said to have committed the murder at his flat in the street “by means presently unknown to the prosecutor.”

He faces a second charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by dismembering Mr Bishop’s body, dumping body parts in a bin and other unknown locations, disposing of the tools he used to cut up the body and then cleaning his flat in a bid to avoid detection.

The charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice states that Collins “did dismember the remains of the said Kevin Bishop using a sharp bladed implement” between July 27 and August 12 this year.

It goes on to state that he “did conceal part of the said remains within a bin in the garden premises...and conceal the other remains in locations meantime unknown to the prosecutor.”

That charge also states that Collins failed to advise police as to the whereabouts of the remains, preventing proper burial.

He is accused of making “efforts to remove all traces of blood and other bodily fluids deposited in the course of the murder of Kevin Bishop...and in the course of dismemberment of the said remains from within [the] flat,” with prosecutors claiming he did this “with intent to defeat the ends of justice.”

Police made two public appeals to trace Mr Bishop, from Paisley, after he was reported missing.

Mr Bishop’s remains were discovered yesterday and Collins was detained and held in police custody until appearing in the dock this afternoon to face the two charges.

Collins was represented by defence solicitor Charlie McCusker, a partner in law firm McCusker, McElroy and Co, during the behind-closed-doors hearing, which lasted less than a minute.

Mr McCusker told Sheriff James Spy that Collins was making no plea to the charges against him.

Sheriff Spy then remanded Collins in custody.

The case was continued for prosecutors to investigate further and Collins is expected to make a second court appearance next week, although no future court dates have been set.