A woman who was one of three people convicted of murdering a teenage girl more than 27 years ago has been jailed for at least 17 years.
Donna Marie Brand, 44, was found guilty in December at the High Court in Glasgow alongside Robert O’Brien, 45 and Andrew Kelly, of killing O’Brien’s 14-year-old girlfriend Caroline Glachan in August 1996.
During 10 days of evidence, the jury heard that the trio 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.
Caroline was repeatedly punched and kicked, and had bricks or similar items thrown 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.
READ MORE: Murderers handed life sentences over 'wicked' killing of teenage girl
Brand was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 17 years when she appeared at the court for sentencing on Monday.
O’Brien and Kelly were sentenced to life at the same court in January, with O’Brien ordered to serve a minimum of 22 years behind bars and Kelly handed a minimum of 18 years.
Brand could not attend court for sentencing in January because she was in hospital, and on Monday appeared for sentencing via video link.
Judge Lord Braid said Brand had been convicted of a “brutal” murder.
He said that while Brand did not take part in the assault itself, she shared in responsibility for the crime because she left Caroline face down in the river while she was still alive and was part of a plan of “murderous violence”.
He said: “Caroline was a popular teenager. She was a lover of life. Due in part to you she has been deprived of living that life”.
When sentencing the two men in January, 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 Caroline.
The judge said while Kelly played a lesser role, he was also involved in inflicting “murderous violence” on the teenager.
During the trial, forensic pathologist Dr Marjorie Turner told the court the 14-year-old was still alive when she went into the water and the ultimate cause of death was drowning.
Caroline’s mother Margaret McKeich told jurors her daughter was “infatuated” with O’Brien but she did not approve of the relationship because he was a few years older.
Mrs McKeich said her daughter had previously disclosed that O’Brien had “lifted his hands to her”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here