A man who sexually assaulted and murdered his 16-year-old sister has been jailed for at least 22 years.
Connor Gibson, who was 19 at the time of the attack, targeted Amber Gibson in woodland in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, in November 2021.
He removed his sister’s clothes, sexually assaulted her with the intention of raping her, and inflicted blunt force trauma to her head and body and strangled her.
Amber died as a result of compression of the neck, Gibson’s 13-day trial at the High Court in Glasgow found.
Following the 21-year-old’s conviction in July, Judge Lord Mulholland told Gibson: “Your sister – the last person she saw was you strangling her. It was depraved and you will pay a heavy price for that.”
At the High Court in Livingston on Monday, he was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 22 years in prison before he can apply for parole.
Amber was reported missing on the evening of Friday 26 November 2021 and her body was discovered in Cadzow Glen on the morning of 28 November.
Stephen Corrigan, 45, came across the teenager’s remains at some point during those two days but instead of alerting emergency services, he intimately touched and concealed her body.
Corrigan, who was not known to Gibson, lodged a special defence of alibi but was found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice and breach of the peace after being unable to explain why his DNA was found on 39 areas of Amber’s body, including her breasts, buttocks and thighs.
He was jailed for nine years.
Gibson was arrested three days later on 1 December.
The day before his arrest he had posted a chilling tribute to the sister he had murdered, writing on Facebook: “Amber, you will fly high for the rest of time.
“We will all miss you. Especially me. I love you ginger midget. GBFN (goodbye for now) X.”
When Gibson was convicted, the former foster family of both siblings said in a statement that Amber was “the most giving, loving, supportive and admirable person”, and their life will “never be the same again”.
The family said: “She kept us on our toes and had the most amazing outlook on life consider the suffering she had experienced.”
The statement continued: “When they arrived at our home – Amber aged three and Connor aged five – Connor stated: ‘We are safe now’.
“They were until he took her safety away.”