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Karen Buckley murder: Alexander Pacteau sentenced to 23 years for killing student
Karen Buckley murder: Alexander Pacteau sentenced to 23 years for killing student
(4 months later)
The man who bludgeoned Irish student Karen Buckley to death and attempted to dispose of her body has been sentenced to a minimum of 23 years in Glasgow.
The man who bludgeoned Irish student Karen Buckley to death and attempted to dispose of her body in Glasgow has been sentenced to 23 years.
Alexander Pacteau, 21, admitted to killing the 24-year-old student and attempting to dispose of her body in acid in Glasgow’s High Court last month.
Alexander Pacteau, 21, admitted to killing the 24-year-old student and attempting to dispose of her body in acid in Glasgow’s High Court last month.
Branding Pacteau "truly evil," Judge Lady Rae told the court on Tuesday he had carried out a "brutal, motiveless attack on a defenceless young woman".
Branding Pacteau "truly evil," Judge Lady Rae told the court on Tuesday he had carried out a "brutal, motiveless attack on a defenceless young woman".
Ms Buckley was attacked and killed after a night out with friends in Glasgow on 12 April.
Ms Buckley was attacked and killed after a night out with friends in Glasgow on 12 April.
Alexander Pacteau, 21, who admitted murdering Karen Buckley, from Cork, when he appeared at the High Court in Glasgow.
Lady Rae said it was “extremely difficult” to find words to describe Pacteau’s actions. "To you she was a stranger who appeared tragically to have accepted a lift in your car.
"Within a matter of minutes, for some inexplicable reason, you destroyed her young life."
The pair were caught on CCTV talking outside West End club The Sanctuary, before walking off in the direction of his silver Ford Focus. The car was seen leaving the area and driving towards Dawsholm Park, where Ms Buckley's handbag was discovered near a bin by a member of public.
In August Pacteau admitted that he drove her to Kelvin Way and bludgeoned her 12 times over the head with a spanner. Afterwards he attempted to dispose of her body by buying caustic soda, placing her body in his flat’s bath and later disposing of it inside a barrel in a rented storage unit.
Prior to his confession, Lady Rae said Pacteau had gone to “extraordinary lengths” to conceal his actions and had spun a “tissue of lies” to investigating police officers.
Alexander Pacteau being questioned by detectives
He initially claimed the pair had had consensual sex before Ms Buckley fell and injured herself on the bedframe. He told officers he had panicked after realising he was the final person to see Ms Buckley before she was reported missing. Only when the forensic evidence against him mounted, and her body was discovered, did he confess his crime.
The nurse had only been in the city for only a month studying for a post-graduate degree in occupational therapy at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Her family travelled from Cork to hear the sentence in court on Tuesday.
"Today's life sentence will not bring our beautiful Karen back. Our little angel has been taken from us forever in the cruellest of ways. We mourn for her every day,” the family said in a statement.
"Karen is at peace now and we know that she is in heaven looking down on us and helping us."
Pacteau was convicted in 2014 for printing counterfeit money, but was not jailed for the offence. Following his conviction for Ms Buckley's murder, it also emerged he had been charged with rape in 2013 but a jury had found him not guilty.
