Two people who murdered a schoolgirl as teenagers and then evaded justice for 27 years have been jailed for life.

Robert O’Brien, 45, and Andrew Kelly, 44, had denied murdering Caroline Glachan, 14, and lied about their whereabouts on the night of the murder but were found guilty following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

The pair were sentenced on Monday. O’Brien must serve a minimum of 22 years before being eligible for parole, and Kelly 18 years.

Donna Marie Brand, 44, who was also found guilty of murder, was unfit to attend court and will be sentenced in March.

Judge Lord Braid described Caroline’s murder as “brutal, depraved, and above all, wicked”.

Caroline’s body was found in the River Leven in West Dunbartonshire on 25 August 1996 – the day of her mother’s 40th birthday.

The killers – who were teenagers at the time of the murder – were eventually caught after Police Scotland reinvestigated the case in 2019.

More than 200 statements were taken from people who had not previously spoken to police, and from that officers from the Major Investigations Team were able to discredit their alibis.

During the trial last year, the jury heard that Caroline met boyfriend O’Brien, Kelly and Brand at a bridge near a towpath beside the river, between Renton and Bonhill.

There, the trio shouted and swore at her and repeatedly punched and kicked her in the head and body.

The court also heard they threw bricks or “similar instruments”, causing blunt force trauma to her head and body.

She was pushed or fell into undergrowth and her body was later discovered in the river at Place of Bonhill, Renton.

Lord Braid said O’Brien was the main perpetrator and used “extreme violence” on the teenager.

The judge said while Kelly played a lesser role, he was also involved in inflicting “murderous violence”.

Lord Braid said: “Caroline was a lover of life but due to both of you Caroline has been deprived of the opportunity of living that life, becoming an adult, having children, fulfilling the potential she had.

“You have taken a daughter from a loving mother. Mrs McKeich has spoken of the pain that Caroline’s death has caused, the void her death has left that will never be filled.

“She has been deprived of seeing the woman that Caroline would have become. No sentence that I pass could possibly make up for what she has lost.”

During the trial, the court heard from Caroline’s mother Margaret McKeich, who said her daughter was “infatuated” with O’Brien but that she did not approve of the relationship as he was a few years older than her.

Mrs McKeich said her daughter had previously disclosed O’Brien had “lifted his hands to her”.

Caroline’s childhood friend Joanne Menzies, 42, also told the court O’Brien had threatened to kill the teenager for “kissing another boy”, and that she had seen O’Brien bully the schoolgirl on more than one occasion.

Dr Marjorie Turner, a forensic pathologist, told the court Caroline’s cause of death was drowning.

She told the trial: “She was still alive when she went into the water. The drowning was the ultimate cause of death.”

Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC argued that evidence given by a boy named Archie Wilson, who was four years old at the time of the murder, was “pivotal” to the case.

The boy’s mother gave evidence that he had been taken to the river the night Caroline was murdered and witnessed her being assaulted and falling into the water.

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Speaking outside the court after the trio were found guilty, Mrs McKeich said it was a “great day” to see her daughter’s killers convicted.

“This is a day we never thought would happen,” she said.

“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.”

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