A man who raped a teenage girl before she was sexually assaulted and murdered by her older brother has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Amber Gibson, 16, was sexually assaulted by Jamie Starrs while she was incapacitated at a property in Bothwell, South Lanarkshire, in June 2021. Five months later, Amber was sexually assaulted and murdered by her older brother, Connor Gibson.
Starrs was found guilty of raping the teenager after a trial at the high court in Lanark in July, during which he was also convicted of raping another teenage girl in May 2021. He has also registered as a sex offender.
Judge Thomas Welsh KC, who sentenced Starrs, said: “You have been convicted of appalling crimes against two innocent teenage girls and you have been assessed as being of very high risk of sexual violence on release.
“I am required to take into account your age and difficult upbringing – however, the crimes remain serious and grave, and I will impose an extended sentence.”
The judge added that he would have ordered 11 years to be served in custody, but reduced this to 10 and a half years to take into account the time that Starrs had spent on remand.
Starrs was also found guilty of a breach of bail conditions, and of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Giving a plea in mitigation, Michael Meehan KC, representing Starrs, asked that the judge take into account sentencing guidelines which reflect that a younger person will have a lower level of maturity than an older person, as Starrs was under 25. Meehan added: “He has a traumatic background from a young age which perhaps gives some degree of explanation.”
The sentencing comes a fortnight after Connor Gibson was found guilty by a jury in Glasgow of attacking his sister in Cadzow Glen in November 2021.
Gibson had denied any involvement in Amber’s death but was convicted after a 13-day trial of removing her clothes, sexually assaulting her with the intention of raping her, inflicting blunt-force trauma to her head and body, and strangling her.
A second man, Stephen Corrigan, 45, from East Kilbride, was found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice and breach of the peace after encountering Amber’s body in the time before she was reported as found, touching her and then concealing her body. He failed to contact the police about his discovery.
Gibson will be sentenced on 4 September while Corrigan will also be sentenced next month.
