A man with 40 previous convictions has been jailed for a minimum of 23 years for the “beyond sadistic” murder of his new girlfriend at her home.
The “broken and lifeless body” of young mother Claire Inglis, 28, had 76 separate sites of injury when she was found in November 2021.
Christopher McGowan was on bail at the time of the murder in Stirling, central Scotland. The couple had been together eight weeks when he was released to stay at the flat that she shared with her son.
The 28-year-old was found guilty of the murder after a trial at the high court in Stirling last month.
On Wednesday, the judge, Michael O’Grady, jailed McGowan for life and ordered him to serve a minimum of 23 years behind bars when he sentenced him at the high court in Edinburgh.
The judge said that while listening to evidence the defendant had shown “not a flicker of emotion, not a hint of distress, not a shadow of remorse”.
He said McGowan had a long record of offending, which began about 14 years ago and comprised 40 previous convictions, mostly for breaches of the peace and breaches of bail as well as three convictions for assault.
In a sentencing statement, Judge O’Grady said: “To those who have not listened to the evidence in this trial, it is difficult to truly convey the utter brutality of the death you inflicted on Claire Inglis.
“By the time her broken and lifeless body was found, she had no fewer than 76 separate sites of injury. There is no need for me to dwell on the detail; there are those present today who have already heard too much to bear. The fact is, this young woman was not only murdered; she was subjected to nothing short of torture.
“I shudder to imagine what her last minutes were like. To describe what you did as sadistic falls woefully short of the mark. It was beyond sadistic.”
The trial had heard how a taxi driver who picked up the couple the evening before the murder in Stirling city centre heard McGowan say “I’ll kill you” under his breath after Inglis left the taxi.
McGowan, who was convicted after two hours of deliberating by the jury, had initially said he was acting in self-defence, a claim that was subsequently withdrawn during the trial.
His account of the night of the murder ranged from claiming his girlfriend had fallen down the stairs of her flat, to saying she had overdosed on Valium and he had tried to save her life.
Scotland’s procurator fiscal for homicide, Moira Orr, said: “This is a heartbreaking case of the murder of a young mother, Claire Inglis, by her abusive partner.
“Christopher McGowan showed cruelty and contempt for Claire, and his actions have left her family devastated.”
Orr added: “The case was carefully investigated by COPFS [The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service] working with Police Scotland, demonstrating that McGowan had displayed aggressive and controlling behaviour towards Claire prior to her murder.
“By not accepting responsibility for his actions, McGowan made Claire’s family go through the ordeal of a trial. Our prosecution team unpicked his deception, and this has resulted in his conviction for murder.
“Our thoughts are now of Claire, and we offer condolences to everyone who loved her.”
