Cold case experts are set to launch a fresh probe into the case of teenager Pamela Hastie in an attempt to discover who raped and murdered her more than 41 years ago. The 16-year-old was strangled as she walked home from school in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, in 1981 in a crime that shocked Scotland.
Local man Raymond Gilmour, then 19, was tried and convicted of the crime in 1982 but his conviction was quashed on appeal after he served 20 years in jail. A meticulous re-examination of her case was ordered by Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, who is understood to be determined to make unsolved murders of women a priority while she is Scotland’s senior prosecutor.
A review of the case revealed that her body could still yield evidence not gathered at the time and it is understood detectives are considering exhuming her body. A source close to the case said: “This has been under discussion for a while and is being driven by the Crown Office, with the Lord Advocate determined to push at any door that might lead to a solution.
