THE mother of tragic schoolgirl Caroline Glachan has demanded her killers should never be released from prison.
Caroline was just 14 when she was killed by Robert O’Brien, Donna Marie Brand and Andrew Kelly in Renton, West Dunbartonshire.
Les GallagherMargaret McKeich hopes her daughter Caroline’s killers are never released from prison[/caption]
PACaroline was murdered by Robert O’Brien, Marie Brand and Andrew Kelly in 1996[/caption]
The twisted trio attacked her and left her to drown in the River Leven on August 25, 1996.
They were only brought to justice after cold case cops cracked the case a quarter of a century later, with sentencing now set for January.
Caroline’s mum, Margaret McKeich, 67, said she was relieved at the verdict but hopes her daughter’s killers will spend the rest of their lives in prison.
Speaking to The Scottish Sun, she said: “They are scum of the earth. They’ve just been out for themselves with a total disrespect for life, I have total contempt.
“I’m hoping that the judge gives them a very lengthy sentence because that’s what they deserve. I hope they rot in prison.
“I would hope that they never ever get out. They’ve had 27 years of freedom.
“They will serve a sentence and then get out. It will never bring Caroline back.
“But I serve a life sentence. I have to live my life without a daughter.”
Margaret added: “They have taken a whole lot from me, not just Caroline’s body. I will never witness her getting her first job or her walking down the aisle and I will never be a grandmother.
“You can never justify murder. I just hope the sentence reflects their deeds, and it was horrific what they done to her.”
O’Brien, 45, Kelly, 44, and Brand, 44, arranged to meet Caroline at a bridge at the river between Renton and Bonhill.
They then brutally attacked her, causing blunt force injuries to her head and body, before dumping her in the river, and ultimately murdering her.
A jury at the High Court in Glasgow returned unanimous guilty verdicts for all three last week.
Margaret said the was “delighted” with the outcome after living a life of uncertainty and fearing she could have bumped into her daughter’s killers in public.
She attended the court hearings and witnessed horrific evidence, while afraid her daughter’s killers could be let off.
She said: “It was quite harrowing. I was so scared of waiting for 27 years, the case coming to court and it all coming to nothing. I trembled from head to foot.
“To see the recovery of the body and the injuries was hard. I know she’d been beaten around the head, but not to what extent.
“To get guilty unanimous for the whole three was more than I had thought I would get.
“The jury had a lot to go over but and they took it serious. It’s like a big weight has lifted off my shoulders, like a big dark cloud has lifted.”
Margaret had confronted O’Brien weeks before the death, because he was 18 and engaging in an inappropriate relationship with her teenage daughter but he ignored her.
She was then forced to identify her teenage daughter’s body on her 40th birthday.
Police Scotland’s Major Investigation Team started re-examining the disturbing cold case in June 2019.
They eventually made a breakthrough after taking new statements and charged the three suspects in 2021.
O’Brien, Kelly and Brand will be sentenced on January 15 at the High Court in Glasgow.
PARobert O’Brien, who was in a relationship with Caroline at the time, was found guilty of her murder[/caption]
PAAndrew Kelly was also convicted of killing Caroline[/caption]
PADonna Marie Brand was also part of the trio found guilty[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
