Man faces life behind bars for murder of retired Fettes College teacher Peter Coshan in Leith

Peter Coshan was killed after being lured to an address with a fake profile on the hook-up site Gaydar. Credit: Police Scotland/PA wire

A 29-year-old man will serve more than two decades behind bars for murdering a retired biology teacher in a catfishing plot.

Paul McNaughton killed 75-year-old Peter Coshan in a flat in Leith, in Edinburgh, on either 11 or 12 August 2022, after using a fake profile on a gay hook-up site to lure him to the address.

McNaughton first met the retired Fettes College teacher online in 2021 and proceeded to steal tens of thousands of pounds from him after gaining access to his bank accounts.

When Mr Coshan found out about the thefts, he threatened to go to the police unless McNaughton provided him with free sexual favours.

McNaughton hatched a plot to kill the retired teacher after becoming “fed up” with the situation.

Following the killing, McNaughton, along with his flatmate Paul Black, 65, of Edinburgh, hid the pensioner’s body until about 15 August, when they put it in a suitcase and drove it to a layby on the A696, between Otterburn and Belsay, in Northumberland, where they dumped it next to a wall.

McNaughton admitted murder and attempting to pervert the course of justice in 2023 before Black’s trial.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he serve a minimum of 22 years behind bars when he was sentenced at Glasgow High Court on Monday (17 June).

Black was cleared of murder following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in May, with the jury returning a not proven verdict.

However, during the trial, he admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice for which he was sentenced to five and a half years.

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