Brother, 20, is found guilty of murdering and sexually assaulting his 16-year-old sister who he strangled to death in a woodland
- Connor Gibson, 20, was convicted of attacking his sister Amber in woodland
A brother was today found guilty of murdering his 16-year-old sister in woodland after trying to rape her.
Connor Gibson, 20, ambushed his sister Amber in a park in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire and removed her clothes before attempting to rape her. He repeatedly hit his sibling on the head and body before strangling her.
Gibson had denied the heinous act on November 26, 2021 but was convicted after a 13-day trial in Glasgow based on a combination of CCTV footage and DNA evidence, including his bloodstained jacket.
Amber was reported missing on the evening of Friday, November 26 and her body 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’.
Amber Gibson’s brother Connor Gibson (pictured), now 20, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow
Amber Gibson (pictured) was found dead at Cadzow Glen in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, on November 28, 2021
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’.
Jurors also heard other forensic evidence that ‘widespread blood staining’ on Gibson’s jacket was compatible with Amber and his DNA was also found on her shorts, worn as underwear, which had been ‘forcibly torn’ off.
The court heard Gibson, also known by the surname Niven, did not seem emotional as he spoke to his and Amber’s former foster father, Craig Niven, on the day Amber’s body was found.
READ MORE: Brother of teenager, 16, found dead in a park appears in court charged with murder, sexual offences and attempting to pervert the course of justice as sister says, ‘I wish I could have protected you’
Giving evidence, Mr Niven had said he would not leave the siblings in each other’s company because they were ‘not a good mix’.
Mr Niven and his wife had fostered the siblings since Amber was three and her brother was five. The couple were granted permanent care of the siblings a few years later.
At the time of Amber’s murder, Connor was living at the Blue Triangle homeless hostel in Hamilton while Amber was at the town’s Hillhouse children’s home.
Mr Niven told the court he had not heard from his former foster son during Amber’s disappearance but, in a call on the day her body was discovered, Gibson told him the pair had ‘fallen out’ when they saw each other two days previously.
Jurors also heard from Peter Benson, of Police Scotland’s cyber crime group, who examined a phone found where Gibson was living.
It showed that on November 27 at about 12.34am, the phone’s user wrote to a Snapchat group with five recipients: ‘I’m really going to need you guys help with something when yous come back. I’m being serious.’
The court saw evidence that about 40 seconds later the user messaged Amber Gibson on the app: ‘Are you ok?’
The user then told the group chat at approximately 1.33am: ‘nvm (never mind) it’s all good.’
The search history obtained from the phone also showed the user searched ‘How to get nosy police officers to stop monitoring your phone’ at 11.38pm.
Iain Currie, manager of Hillhouse children’s home, told the court he spoke to Gibson at about 9pm on November 26 after he called to speak with his sister, but noted him appearing ‘sharp’ on the phone after making no greeting.
Also on trial was Stephen Corrigan, 45, who was found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by intimately touching and concealing Amber’s body after discovering her at some point in the following two days, instead of contacting the emergency services.
Corrigan, said in court not to be known to Gibson, also denied the charge and had lodged a special defence of alibi.
His father, William Corrigan, 79, told the court his son was at his home in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, that weekend after a fall on ice left his arm in a sling, and denied lying to protect him.
The court heard Corrigan told police he was at a ‘complete loss’ to explain why his DNA was found on 39 areas of Amber’s body, including her breasts, buttocks and thighs.
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