THE KILLER OF a 15-year-old Scottish teenager has received a 27-year sentence at Glasgow High Court.
Paige Doherty was killed by 32-year-old delicatessen owner John Leathem in March this year.
Her body was dumped two days later in bushes in Clydebank. She had been stabbed 61 times with many more injuries which suggested she had tried to defend herself.
Leathem, a married father-of-two, pleaded guilty to the murder in court in September in the face of mounting evidence. Under questioning, he told Glasgow Police that he had “panicked” after an altercation with Doherty before stabbing her.
CCTV footage of Doherty entering Leathem’s delicatessen proved invaluable in convicting him.
The teenager left a friend’s house on Angus Street, Clydebank at around 8.15am on Saturday, 19 March. She was seen at a local shop five minutes later on Fleming Street.
Responding to today’s sentencing, Detective Superintendent Duncan Sloan of Police Scotland said: “Our thoughts remain with Paige’s family at this time.”
John Leathem will now spend a large amount of his life behind bars but a young girl has been brutally taken from her family and their sorrow will be with them for the rest of their lives.
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