A MISSING traveller's blood was found in the back of a van belonging to a man accused of his murder, a court has heard.Tony Holland, who is also charged with stabbing another man to death in Bury St Edmunds, owned a transit van which was examined by forensic scientists, Ipswich Crown Court heard yesterday .

A MISSING traveller's blood was found in the back of a van belonging to a man accused of his murder, a court has heard.

Tony Holland, who is also charged with stabbing another man to death in Bury St Edmunds, owned a transit van which was examined by forensic scientists, Ipswich Crown Court heard yesterday .

Forensic scientist Jane Rice told the court blood stains containing missing traveller Danny Hathaway's DNA were discovered on the sliding door and wooden panels in Holland's van.

She said wet blood had smeared onto the inside of the van leaving “heavy contact stains”.

One such stain, said Karim Khalil, prosecuting, appeared to have finger or hand print details within the blood stain matching that of 23-year-old Holland, a traveller from Desborough, Northamptonshire.

The court heard that four transit vans were seized from Holland and various items were discovered in them, including a hammer, pickaxe handle, a metal bar, rope, boxing gloves, a knife and a spade.

Mr Hathaway, a 44-year-old family man and mechanic from Corby disappeared in February 2007. He has never been found.

Holland was on bail for his murder when he was arrested for the murder of 20-year-old Bill O'Conner.

Mr O'Conner died after suffering eight stab wounds to the head, heart, eye and neck during an incident near his home in Bury St Edmunds last April.

Holland denies killing him in broad daylight behind a parade of shops in Home Farm Lane.

It has been claimed that the defendant met Mr O'Conner for a pre-arranged cocaine deal and that Mr O'Conner was attacked for “showing a fancy” to Holland's fiancé.

The trial continues.