Karen Buckley’s parents to attend sentencing hearing

The parents of murdered Cork student Karen Buckley are expected to attend the sentencing hearing of her killer Alexander Pacteau at Glasgow High Court on Tuesday.

Pacteau (21) pleaded guilty to killing the young Irish student, who he encountered by chance following a night out in Glasgow earlier this year.

The alarm had been raised by Ms Buckley’s friends after she went missing in the early hours of April 12th following an evening spent in the Sanctuary nightclub.

Her body was found by local police in a storage unit on a farm outside Glasgow three days later, a discovery which led to the eventual arrest of Pacteau.

Her parents John and Marian Buckley both attended a trial on August 11th where the accused entered a guilty plea, and he has since been remanded in custody at HMP Barlinnie in advance of sentencing - which will be broadcast on television after the hearing concludes.

Pacteau is expected to face a mandatory life sentence for murder which, in Scotland, carries a minimum jail term of 15 years.

Speaking outside Glasgow High Court on August 11th, John Buckley described Pacteau as "truly evil".

“Our hearts are broken at the thought of Karen’s final moments on this world. The thought of her being alone, frightened and struggling for her life haunts us.”

“The last face she saw and the last voice she heard was of that cold blooded cowardly murderer, who calmly set about trying to dispose of her body so she would never be found.”

Investigating police gave evidence that Mr Pacteau bludgeoned his victim on the head with a wrench “12 or 13 times”, before attempting to dispose of her body firstly in a bath of caustic soda at his apartment, and then in a barrel of caustic soda hidden in a rural shed.

Ms Buckley is survived by her parents John and Marian and her brothers Brendan, Kieran and Damien.