Glasgow man found guilty of rape and murder of his own sister 

Connor Gibson, 20, has been found guilty after killing his sister Amber in woodland in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire

By Edward Era Barbacena 

PURE WHITE EVIL

Amber Gibson sent one final photograph to a friend just before 10pm on November 26, 2021.

The vulnerable 16-year-old, who grew up in the care system, is pictured standing proudly beside an older man wearing a baseball cap. The caption contained the three words: “My big bro”.

Minutes later Connor Gibson, 20 — the person she is said to have trusted most in the world — attacked, sexually assaulted and then dumped his sister’s body in a Lanarkshire nature reserve.

Gibson beat his younger sibling around the head, strangled her and attempted to rape her. The jury at Glasgow High Court took just over three hours to find him guilty of sexual assault and murder.

Stephen Corrigan, 45, stumbled upon the teenager’s remains as he walked through Cadzow Glen, a nature reserve in the heart of urban Hamilton. Instead of calling the police he defiled her before hiding her body under bushes and returning home.

This meant that Amber, a gifted artist and talented singer who enjoyed creating dance routines with friends, was not discovered until two days later after a major search.

Corrigan was found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by inappropriately touching and concealing her body. Both Gibson and Corrigan were remanded in custody and are due to be sentenced on September 4 in Livingston, West Lothian.

Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Livingstone, 51, who worked on the case, said he still struggled to comprehend what happened that rainy night. “In my 29 years in the job I cannot recall anything else like this. It beggars belief that people could do that.

“There was an element of depravity and evil. Anyone looking in would never have thought that her closest blood relative could do something like that to her.”

Amber had also been raped five months before her death by Jamie Starrs, 20, a stranger who had invited her to his house in Bothwell, South Lanarkshire. A statement that she gave to officers had helped to convict him of the attack this month.

In a harrowing piece of new evidence, it has come to light that Peter Gibson, Amber and Connor’s father, was jailed for a catalogue of offences involving sexual and physical abuse, carried out between 2001 and 2008, at the High Court in Glasgow in April.

Their father, 62, raped a woman in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, after tying her up and blindfolding her. He also indecently assaulted a child and punched and kicked them.

The father, latterly of Shropshire, was jailed for ten years and ordered to be supervised for three years on his release.

The siblings were housed with a foster family when Amber was three and Connor was five, but the arrangement broke down and both were returned to residential homes.

In a statement, the family described Amber as the “most giving, loving, supportive and admirable person”. “She kept us on our toes and had the most amazing outlook on life considering the suffering she had experienced,” they said.

The family said that both siblings had been “let down by the system” and said that as “a family we all feel this could have been prevented”.

Ian Currie, 55, the manager of Hillhouse Children’s Unit, said that he tried to discourage Amber from meeting her brother on the night of her death but she would not be dissuaded.

Staff and residents at the Blue Triangle project in Hamilton, a homeless unit where Connor Gibson had been staying, said that he returned looking “dishevelled and out of breath” just before midnight on the night of the murder. Suzanne Duddy, 55, a project worker, said he looked like he had fallen into a ditch, was bleeding from his left shin, and that his hands were “very, very dirty, up to his wrist”.

Gibson claimed he had been involved in an argument with his sister, but insisted he could not remember why. “He said that he had a bad night, but claimed everything was a bit fuzzy,” one staff member said.

Gibson said that he wanted to use a public phone to make sure his sister had got home safely. He was later seen outside on CCTV walking towards bins with a carrier bag before returning home empty handed. 

After his sister’s body was discovered Gibson went on social media and posted this on Facebook: “Amber, you will fly high for the rest of time. We will all miss you, especially me.

“I love you ginger midget. Goodbye for now.”

He was arrested a day later.

The details of the case were revealed during a two-week hearing at the High Court in Glasgow. A forensic pathologist said that Gibson’s body had been found covered in mud and that the cause of death was “compression of the neck”.

Richard Goddard KC, for the prosecution, said it was “a tragedy” that the last face she ever saw was her brother. “Gibson violently assaulted [Amber], broke her nose, ripped off her bra and top and pulled off her joggers and underwear,” he said.

“From him going to Cadzow Glen with her, we saw him emerge muddy, dishevelled, going back to the Blue Triangle to tell a pack of lies about where he had been and what he did that evening.”

He said that the last anyone saw of Amber was on CCTV in the company of her brother heading towards the area of the glen where her body was found on Sunday morning.

Jurors were reminded that he was not spotted on the same camera again until more than 90 minutes later. “What was he doing in a dark secluded place for all that time?” asked Goddard. “The very same place where Amber was later to be found.”

A bandage with his DNA was discovered near his sister’s body. Blood matching Amber’s DNA profile was found on a T-shirt and shorts discovered in the bin outside the Blue Triangle centre. It was also found on trainers and a coat which were recovered from a room at the unit.

The verdict of Alana Gunn, a forensic biologist, was damning. “In our opinion, the collective findings relating to Connor Gibson could be explained if he was involved in an assault on Amber Gibson and was also in contact with her while she was bleeding,” she said.

Police Scotland’s cybercrime unit discovered that Gibson searched “How to get nosy police officers to stop monitoring your phone” the day after he murdered his sister. On the same day he messaged five friends on a group chat, writing: “I’m really going to need you guys help with something when you come back. I’m being serious.”

The court was told that Corrigan was a complete stranger to Amber. He told police that he was at a “complete loss” to explain why his DNA was found on 39 areas of her body, including her breasts, buttocks and thighs.

“Virtually no part of her went untouched by Corrigan,” Goddard said.

Addressing Gibson first, Lord Mulholland said: “Your sister — the last person she saw was you strangling her. It was depraved. You will pay a heavy price for that.”

The judge then told Corrigan: “You have been convicted of two horrific crimes. You came across a young girl who had been strangled to death and was naked. Instead of alerting the authorities, you handled her body and your DNA told the story. Be under no illusion what is also coming your way.”

Neither showed any emotion as they were taken to the cells in handcuffs.

Livingstone confirmed that counselling would be offered to officers who dealt with the “exceptional and highly challenging” case. “The actions of both Corrigan and Gibson leave them both beneath contempt,” he said.

“Amber would have been there for her brother, given their difficult start in life.

“You would have liked to have thought that he would have been there for her.”