Two Lithuanians remanded over severed head

Two men were remanded in custody on Monday charged with the murder of a 35-year-old Lithuanian woman whose severed head was found on a Scottish beach.

The men, Lithuanians Vitas Plytnykas, 40, and Aleksandras Skirda, 19, appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court where they were also charged with theft and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

The head of Jolanta Bledaite was found in a plastic bag by two young sisters on a beach at Arbroath, in eastern Scotland, last Tuesday. Two hands were also found on the foreshore.

Bledaite was a migrant worker, who had been living in the nearby town of Brechin. She had been reported missing by her employer.

The two accused men, also from Brechin, will reappear at the court on April 15.

A suitcase containing body parts was found by police divers on Saturday in Arbroath Harbour.

Tests will be carried out, but police said they believe they are those of Bledaite.