Deli owner jailed for life after 'savage' knife murder of schoolgirl Paige Doherty

A shop owner has been jailed for a minimum of 27 years over the murder of 15-year-old schoolgirl Paige Doherty.

John Leathem, 32, was given a life sentence after admitting killing Doherty at his deli shop in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, on 19 March.

The married father-of-two stabbed the teenager more than 60 times before dumping her body in bushes two days later.

Shouts of "scum" and "monster" were heard from the victim's friends and family as he was led to the cells at Glasgow High Court following his sentencing on Wednesday (12 October). One was heard screaming: "Why did you do that?"

In passing sentence, Judge Lady Rae said it was a "savage and frenzied" attack, and also described the killing as "truly reprehensible and impossible to comprehend".

Doherty had been last seen on the day of her murder entering Leathem's shop Delicious Deli, in Fleming Avenue, to buy a sandwich on the way to work.

Leathem, who admitted the killing at an earlier hearing, said he had "panicked" after the schoolgirl threatened to report him for sexual assault following a discussion about a potential job offer, the court heard. He claimed Paige told him "I'll just say you touched me" if she wasn't offered the role.

A post-mortem examination found Paige suffered 61 stab wounds, mainly to her head and neck, and 85 further cuts thought to have been sustained as she tried to fight off her attacker.

Chilling CCTV footage played to the court showed Leathem rushing to nearby shops to buy bin bags and anti-bacterial wipes shortly after Doherty had entered the shop. The footage then showed him carrying her body to the boot of his car.

He is believed to have taken the girl's body to his garden shed before dumping it in woodland less than a mile from the deli. The body was discovered by a walker two days later after her mother had filed a missing person inquiry when Paige failed to turn up to work at a hairdressers.

Leathem's lawyer, Ian Duguid QC, said his client has been a "normal and ordinary person" before the incident, adding that the murder was a "spontaneous, gross overreaction".

He said Leathem claimed to have taken Paige into the back office to discuss a job application, where he says he told her he would have to speak to her mother due to her age and that there were other candidates for the position as a shop assistant.

Leathem claims Paige responded: "I thought I was getting a job," before adding: "I'll just say you touched me."

Paige was described by her grandmother as a "kind and selfless person and all-round good girl".

Her family have said they will never get over what happened to the teenager.

The court heard how her mother Pamela Munro hears her daughter's screams in her nightmares and stepfather Andrew said they could not get out of their heads "the terror that she must have experienced".

More to follow...