Paige Doherty's killer sentenced to 27 years for '˜frenzied' murder

A shop owner has been jailed for at least 27 years for the murder of 15-year-old customer Paige Doherty in his back office.
Paige Doherty was stabbed more than 60 times when she stopped at a Clydebank shop. Picture: Police Scotland/PA WirePaige Doherty was stabbed more than 60 times when she stopped at a Clydebank shop. Picture: Police Scotland/PA Wire
Paige Doherty was stabbed more than 60 times when she stopped at a Clydebank shop. Picture: Police Scotland/PA Wire

John Leathem, 32, stabbed the teenager more than 60 times when she stopped at his Delicious Deli in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, on March 19, and he dumped her body in bushes two days later.

The married father-of-two was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow to life with a minimum term of 27 years on Thursday after pleading guilty to her murder at an earlier hearing.

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The South Court was packed with Paige’s family and friends for the sentencing.

There were shouts of “scum” and “monster” as Leathem was led away to the cells.

In passing sentence, Judge Lady Rae said it was a “savage and frenzied” attack, and also described the killing as “truly reprehensible and impossible to comprehend”.

First time offender Leathem attacked Paige in the back office of the Delicious Deli on the town’s Fleming Avenue shortly after 8.20am, apparently after a short exchange about a job.

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A post-mortem examination found Paige suffered 61 stab wounds, mainly to her head and neck, and 85 further cuts thought to have been sustained as she tried to fight off her attacker.

Leathem was captured on CCTV carrying her body out of the shop in a bin bag and putting it in the boot of his car.

Footage also shows him leaving his shop to buy anti-bacterial wipes, bin bags and bleach.

He is understood to have stored Paige’s body in a shed at his nearby home over the weekend before driving to a wooded area off the A82 and dumping her body on the morning of Monday March 21, where she was discovered by a member of the public.

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At the previous hearing, Lady Rae told him: “This was a savage, frenzied attack on a child.”

Leathem’s lawyer Ian Duguid QC said the murder was a “spontaneous, gross overreaction”.

He said Leathem claimed to have taken Paige into the back office to discuss a job application, where he says he told her he would have to speak to her mother due to her age and that there were other candidates for the position as a shop assistant.

Leathem claims Paige responded: “I thought I was getting a job,” before adding: “I’ll just say you touched me,” the court heard.

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Paige was described by her grandmother as a “kind and selfless person and all-round good girl”.

Her family have said they will never get over what happened to the teenager.

The court heard how her mother Pamela Munro hears her daughter’s screams in her nightmares and stepfather Andrew said they could not get out of their heads “the terror that she must have experienced”.

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