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BEAST CAGED for life
Amber Gibson’s evil brother Connor jailed for life for murdering & sexually assaulting his teen sister
A DEPRAVED brother who sexually assaulted and murdered his vulnerable teenage sister was jailed for life today.
Beast Connor Gibson, 21, will spend a minimum of 22 years in prison after he throttled tragic Amber Gibson, 16 in Hamilton, Lanarkshire on November 26 2021 and dumped her body in a local park.
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Connor Gibson nodded gently as his defence counsel Tony Graham KC told the court he knew he was facing decades behind bars.
In mitigation, he said Gibson's childhood was punctuated by living in 'squalor' and he suffered 'physical, mental and emotional abuse' as a youngster.
He said: "This is one of the most vile crimes my lord has ever had to deal with.
"My client had an appalling upbringing and an appalling childhood.
"His background goes some way to reconcile how damaged Connor Gibson is.
"He is incapable of forming appropriate relationships. He has lived his life in lonely isolation."
Mr Graham said many youths with difficult upbringings do not go on to commit any crimes, far less murder their sister.
But he added: "He has reached the ultimate level in criminality.
"Connor Gibson is a man with a troubled past which has manifested itself in an appalling way.
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"At the age of 19, he has taken the life of maybe the only other person who would have been able to understand the realities of their upbringing."
The 20-year-old fiend removed Amber's clothes, sexually assaulted and tried to rape her and repeatedly inflicted blunt force trauma to her head and body.
Gibson - who also uses the name Niven like his sister did - then strangled the teenager with his hands.
Gibson had denied the charges but was convicted of killing his younger sister last month following a 13-day trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
On sentencing, Lord Mulholland told Gibson: “What you did was truly evil.
"The last person she saw was you, her brother, strangling the life out of her.";
Co-accused Stephen Corrigan, 45, was given nine years after defiling Amber's corpse and hiding her body after discovering her at some point after Connor's murderous assault.
He also denied the charges and had lodged a special defence of alibi.
Lord Mulholland said: “You are guilty of despicable conduct.”
Rhonda Anderson, for Corrigan, said he maintains his innocence - and said while he was not a first offender, his prior convictions were 'minor' and not sexual.
She added he 'does not present any risk to the public' when he is freed.
Ms Anderson said: "These offences are serious and abhorrent.
"The offences are very unusual and he has no history of prior sexual offending.
"He is a devoted father to two sons and has an adoptive father with significant health issues.
"My client suffers from anxiety."
Lord Mulholland said Corrigan's offences were unprecedented in this country.
He said: "I couldn't find an example of a similar offence in Scotland."
Amber was reported missing on the evening of Friday November 26 and her body was discovered in Cadzow Glen at about 10.10am on November 28.
Gibson was arrested three days later on December 1 and, the day before his arrest, posted a chilling tribute to the sister he murdered, writing on Facebook: "Amber, you will fly high for the rest of time. We will all miss you. Especially me. I love you ginger midget. GBFN (goodbye for now) X".
The forensic pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination on Amber's body told the court she was found covered in mud and the cause of death was "compression of the neck".
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The pair were jailed at the High Court in Livingston by trial judge Lord Mulholland.
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