A teenage girl was ‘appallingly’ murdered by the brother she ‘must have trusted’ before a stranger took advantage of finding her body to commit ‘disgraceful’ sex acts, a court has heard. 

Amber Gibson, 16, was found dead at Cadzow Glen, Hamilton, on November 28, 2021. 

Her brother Connor Gibson, 20, who also goes by the surname Niven, is accused of strangling her to death during an attempted sex attack at the park two days earlier. 

A second man, Stephen Corrigan, 45, is on trial alongside him accused of finding her body between those dates but molesting and hiding it instead of alerting police. 

In his closing speech to jurors at the High Court in Glasgow, prosecutor Richard Goddard KC said it was a ‘tragedy’ that the last face Amber saw was Gibson’s. 

He pointed to Gibson’s DNA being recovered from his sister’s body and clothing as well as CCTV footage of them entering the park and the fact he later disposed of clothing. 

Mr Goddard said: ‘Taking all separate sources in combination, it paints a clear picture that Gibson sexually assaulted and murdered his sister.’ 

He told jurors Amber’s body then lay there until the Sunday morning, ‘enough time for Corrigan to commit sordid acts’. 

The court heard Corrigan’s DNA was found on 39 areas, with the prosecutor adding: ‘Virtually no part of her body went untouched by Corrigan.’ 

Mr Goddard went on: ‘We have listened to evidence of the appalling murder of a 16-year-old girl by a person she must have trusted. 

‘You have heard overwhelming evidence of the outrageous acts committed on her by Corrigan.  

‘You have 21 separate circumstances arising from the evidence pointing in the same way against Gibson. 

‘You have 11 circumstances incriminating Corrigan and left with no remotely plausible explanation for the DNA given by forensic scientists. 

‘These points provide you as a jury with the reassurance you deserve to be satisfied that the right verdicts in this case are verdicts of guilty for each accused and that is what I invite you to do.’ 

Tony Graham KC, defending Gibson, told the jury in his closing speech they have not been given a definitive time for Amber’s death. 

He said: ‘Can you convict someone of murder when you don’t know when the person dies?’ 

The advocate conceded Gibson assaulted his sister resulting in blunt force injuries but said he did not cause her death, reminding them Amber’s cause of death was compression of the neck. 

He said: ‘Where does that take you in deciding that Connor Gibson should be found guilty of his sister’s murder? There is no evidence of contact with the neck.’ 

Concluding his remarks, he asked the jury to convict Gibson of assaulting Amber with every allegation deleted other than ‘inflict blunt trauma to her head’. 

Gibson and Corrigan deny the charges. The trial continues. 

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