Three people have been convicted of the murder of a 14-year-old girl in 1996, with the judge describing their actions as “depraved, brutal and wicked”.
Robert O’Brien, 45, and Andrew Kelly and Donna Marie Brand, both 44, were found guilty of killing O’Brien’s girlfriend Caroline Glachan in West Dunbartonshire.
The jury unanimously convicted the three defendants, who were all teenagers at the time of Caroline’s murder, on Thursday after two days of deliberation.
Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC told the court after the trio had been convicted: “Obviously this is a case of some age. The sense of the loss of Caroline Glachan, who was 14 and Margaret McKeich’s only child, has been immeasurable and has not diminished over the years.”
The judge, Lord Braid, remanded them into custody after their convictions at the high court in Glasgow.
The jury was previously told that Glachan had been punched, kicked and struck repeatedly with bricks and other instruments to the head, and was either pushed or fell into the River Leven near Place of Bonhill, Renton.
The jury heard Caroline was “infatuated” with O’Brien and had left her home in Bonhill before midnight to meet him.
The forensic pathologist Dr Marjorie Turner told the trial her cause of death had been drowning.
The day Caroline’s body was discovered by police – 25 August 1996 – was her mother’s 40th birthday.
McKeich told the media outside court: “This is a day we never thought would happen.
“I would like to say a big thank you to DI Stuart Grainger and all of the police who worked on the case over the years.
“It will not bring her back, but at least we know who was responsible is serving time because for the last 25 years, they’ve had their Christmases and birthdays, but my Caroline has been in the ground.
“This is a great day.”
During the 10-day trial, the court heard from several witnesses including Glachan’s friend Joanne Menzies, who described O’Brien as a “bully”.
Police Scotland’s major investigation team re-examined the evidence in 2019.
Grainger, who led the investigation, said: “At the heart of this is a mother, a father, extended family and friends who have had to endure years of not knowing who killed Caroline.
“Their lives changed forever the day Caroline was murdered; they were robbed of having a future with her, watching her grow from a young girl to a young woman. Her future was robbed the night she met Robbie, Donna and Andrew.”
O’Brien, Kelly and Brand will be sentenced on 15 January at the high court in Glasgow.
The trio had denied the charge and had lodged a special defence of alibi.
