The ‘brutal and depraved’ murder of schoolgirl Caroline Glachan came against the backdrop of teenage love rivalry, jurors heard over the course of her killers’ trial.
Caroline, 14, was punched, kicked and pelted with bricks and other weapons before being left to drown in the River Leven in Renton, West Dunbartonshire, 27 years ago.
Robert O’Brien, 45, Donna Marie Brand, 44, and Andrew Kelly, also 44, were convicted of the 1996 murder at Glasgow’s High Court this week.
Caroline was ‘infatuated’ with O’Brien, her 18-year-old boyfriend four years her senior, and was ‘excited’ to meet him at the river’s Black Bridge.
Alex Prentice KC, prosecuting, told the jury: ‘What she was looking forward to turned out to be a horrific and brutal attack.’
O’Brien, who told jurors from the witness box that he had been ‘seeing about five girls’, was also going out with Brand, 17, and the pair – along with Kelly – confronted Caroline there.
Caroline’s heartbroken mother Margaret McKeich told jurors she did not approve of her only child seeing O’Brien, described in court as a ‘violent bully’.
The pair had only met around two months before Caroline’s murder, but she was soon aware of him being violent.
Caroline had confided in at least one friend that she was ‘scared’ of O’Brien, who had threatened to kill her for ‘kissing another boy’.
The court heard Brand also told a pal she wanted to ‘batter’ the younger girl for spending time with O’Brien.
Asked whether she raised her concerns with Caroline, Mrs McKeich replied: ‘Absolutely – on more than one occasion.’
Mrs McKeich had been out the night before celebrating her 40th birthday, with Caroline planning to have pal Joanne Menzies stay at their house.
But instead, Caroline left her friend in the company of two boys while she went to meet O’Brien – known as Robbie.
Ms Menzies told jurors: ‘Caroline was very impressionable. I think she was infatuated with Robbie.’
She had begged her friend to ‘stay away’ from O’Brien – but she did not ‘heed the advice’.
Upon returning from celebrations in the early hours of the morning, Mrs McKeich realised her daughter was not at home.
She was told her body had been found the following day, on August 25.
A post-mortem examination revealed Caroline suffered at least 10 blows to the head and extensive skull fractures.
Forensic pathologist Dr Marjorie Turner told the court her cause of death was drowning, but said: ‘She was still alive when she went into the water.’
The crucial witness in the case that ‘tortured’ the local community for nearly three decades ended up being Archie Wilson, who was just four at the time.
His mum Elizabeth – known as Betty – had returned home hours after the killing to find her babysitter Kelly sitting in shorts alone with her children. He claimed Archie had urinated on him and the carpet.
But Archie would describe being taken to the river the night Caroline was murdered and seeing her being assaulted and falling into the water.
Asked what he said had happened, his mum told jurors: ‘He said they were down the Leven…that they were fighting with the lassie, that she ended up falling in and that they had battered the lassie.’
Deemed unfit to give evidence himself, he also recalled the girl having a Chipie brand jumper on – the same type Caroline was wearing when she was found.
Both Ms Wilson and her son were interviewed in 1996 – and the former again in 2020 when the case re-opened.
She admitted she had not wanted her young boy ‘involved’ at the time.
But, asked by police what her reaction was when she discovered Caroline had been found in the river, she stated: ‘The blood just kind of drained from my face.
‘I just knew that the story Archie had told us was related to the body.’
Mr Prentice KC said Archie’s evidence was ‘pivotal’ to the Crown case.
Holding back tears outside court, Caroline’s mum Mrs McKeich said: ‘This is a day we never thought we would see.
‘I cannot sum up how I am feeling. It will not bring her back, but at least we know who is responsible and will be serving time for this.
‘Caroline lost her life while they have had their Christmases and birthdays. My Caroline was in the ground.
‘This is a great day.’
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