Mother ‘over the moon’ as two jailed for life for daughter’s murder in 1996

Robert O’Brien, 45, Andrew Kelly, 44, and Donna Marie Brand, 44, were last month found guilty of killing O’Brien’s 14-year-old girlfriend Caroline Glachan in August 1996, after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

During the trial the jury heard that O’Brien, Kelly and Brand had arranged to meet Caroline at a bridge near the towpath beside the River Leven, between Renton and Bonhill in West Dunbartonshire, on August 25 that year.

They repeatedly punched and kicked her and threw bricks or similar items at her, causing blunt force trauma to her head and body.

She was pushed or fell into undergrowth and her body was discovered in the river at Place of Bonhill, Renton, later the same day, which was her mother’s 40th birthday.

O’Brien and Kelly were jailed for life when they appeared for sentencing at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday, with O’Brien ordered to serve a minimum of 22 years and Kelly a minimum of 18 years.

Brand was unable to attend the sentencing hearing because she was in hospital with a respiratory infection and will be sentenced in March, the court heard.

Speaking outside the court on Monday, Caroline’s mother Margaret McKeich said: “This is the day that I’ve been waiting for for 27 years.

“It was more than what I was hoping for, I’m really, really happy. I’m just sad that the other one is not here to get her comeuppance but she’ll get it in March.

“Today I couldn’t have wished for more, the outcome, the whole thing. I am over the moon.

“It’s not going to bring Caroline back but it’s justice for her. I don’t know if closure is the right word but justice has certainly been done.”

Judge Lord Braid described the murder as “brutal, depraved and above all wicked”.

He said O’Brien was the main perpetrator and used “extreme violence” on the 14-year-old.

The judge said that while Kelly played a lesser role, he was also involved in inflicting “murderous violence” on the teenager.

He said: “Caroline was a lover of life but due to both of you, Caroline has been deprived of the opportunity of living that life, becoming an adult, having children, fulfilling the potential she had.

“You have taken a daughter from a loving mother. Mrs McKeich has spoken of the pain that Caroline’s death has caused, the void her death has left that will never be filled.

“She has been deprived of seeing the woman that Caroline would have become. No sentence that I pass could possibly make up for what she has lost.”

Addressing O’Brien, Lord Braid said: “Nobody who heard the evidence of the pathologist, Dr Marjorie Turner, could fail to be sickened by her descriptions of the injuries caused by you.”

He said O’Brien had arranged to meet Caroline but, when he arrived with Brand, Kelly and two young children they were looking after, she would have realised it was not a “romantic encounter” and they had come “mob-handed” intending to assault her.

He told O’Brien: “You then carried out a murderous assault on Caroline. Then, having assaulted her and left her unconscious, you left her face down in the river, and while she may have died from the injuries inflicted on her, she died from drowning.”

Lord Braid said Kelly threw rocks at Caroline and must also accept responsibility for leaving her in the river.

He also highlighted that the murder was committed in the presence of two young children.

During the trial, Mrs McKeich said her daughter was “infatuated” with O’Brien but she did not approve of the relationship as he was a few years older.

She said her daughter had previously disclosed that O’Brien had “lifted his hands to her”.

Dr Turner, a forensic pathologist, told the court the 14-year-old was still alive when she went into the water and the ultimate cause of death was drowning.

Lord Baird said that while O’Brien was only 18 at the time of the attack, the fact that he went on to have several convictions including one for attempted murder, and the “brutal premeditated nature” of the attack against Miss Glachan, meant there were no mitigating factors.

He said Kelly was 16 at the time of the murder and that while he also had subsequent convictions, his age and the fact he played a lesser role in the incident provided some mitigation.

Ian Duguid KC, representing O’Brien, said the 45-year-old’s life was blighted by heroin from the age of around 16.

He said O’Brien had described Caroline’s death as an “absolute tragedy”.

Mr Duguid added: “He fully appreciates the nature of what has taken place but he continues to maintain that he and his co-accused were not the people responsible.”

Ronnie Renucci KC said drugs had also blighted the life of Kelly, who he represents, and had urged the judge to take into consideration his age at the time of the offence.