Updated 12.15pm

ALEXANDER PACTEAU HAS pleaded guilty to the murder of Irish nurse Karen Buckley.

In court today, the 21-year-old admitted to killing the 24-year-old Cork woman in Glasgow in April.

The young student went missing in the Scottish city after a night out with friends on 12 April.

Her body was found four days later on a Glasgow farm.

It emerged in court that he attempted to strangle Karen before hitting her multiple times with a heavy spanner in his car. Minutes earlier, she was spotted talking to Pacteau just after leaving The Sanctuary nightclub.

Tributes left during a silent vigil in Scotland for Karen Buckley. PA Wire PA Wire

Pacteau was formally arrested following the discovery of the remains. He was charged on 17 April with the murder, and with attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

He entered a guilty plea at Glasgow High Court today. He now faces a mandatory life sentence.

Karen’s parents and three brothers were in court today for the hearing. Speaking in June, John and Marian Buckley thanked the public for the support they had received since their daughter’s death.

“We are still in shock and disbelief and it sometimes feels like all of this isn’t real,” they told the Irish Examiner.

Originally published: 12.15

Karen Buckley’s parents: ‘We’re still in shock, it sometimes feels like all of this isn’t real’