DETECTIVES have made a fresh appeal for help in finding the remains of an English drugs courier murdered on Fenwick Moor more than 30 years ago.

Paul Thorne, from Bristol, was shot dead in a remote wooded area near the village of Moscow in Ayrshire in October, 1988.

He had arrived in Glasgow earlier that day with a £30,000 consignment of the drug Amphetamine Sulphate. 

His job was to hand over the batch and take the cash payment back to gang bosses in Bristol. 

Instead, Thorne was lured down to Fenwick Moor on a pretext and killed.

READ MORE: Gruesome murder of Paul Thorne shocked Glasgow

Five men John Paul McFadyen, Ricardo Blanco, Thomas Collins, Thomas Currie and Stephen Mitchell stood trial for his murder and three McFadyen, Blanco and Collins were found guilty.

It is one of the few cases in Scotland where a murder conviction has been achieved without a body.

Despite a massive land and air search at the time lasting six months, nothing was found of the slain drugs courier.

Police Scotland say they are now willing to consider any new information on the possible location of his remains.

Detective Chief Inspector Brian Geddes, of Homicide Governance and Review, added: “Three men were convicted in connection with the death of  Paul Thorne in 1989.  

"Mr Thorne’s remains have never been found. 

“Should any new information be received it will be fully assessed and considered for the feasibility of a search.  

“Anyone who may have information about this matter is asked to contact Police Scotland via 101.”

Blanco, 26, John Paul McFadyen, 24, Collins, 25, and Currie, 28, had all taken turns to shoot Thorne with a sawn-off shotgun. 

A fifth gang member Stephen Mitchell, 26, refused.

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All five then dug a makeshift grave, placed Thorne’s body inside and covered it with a mattress.

In October, 1989, one year after Thorne’s murder McFadyen, Blanco, Collins, Currie and Mitchell all stood trial in Glasgow.

Half way through the trial the murder charge was dropped against Mitchell and he testified against his four fellow gang members.

McFadyen, Blanco and Collins all received life sentences. 

Currie was found not proven after Donald Findlay QC argued that Thorne was dead by the time he fired the fourth shot.