Young killer who murdered teen while pregnant named as Jolene Doherty

ONE of Scotland’s youngest female killers - who murdered a teen while she was pregnant and high on cocaine can now be named.
Jolene Doherty was just 17 when she killed Conner Cowper last April. Pic: SWNSJolene Doherty was just 17 when she killed Conner Cowper last April. Pic: SWNS
Jolene Doherty was just 17 when she killed Conner Cowper last April. Pic: SWNS

Jolene Doherty can only be named and pictured now, after turning 18 today and spending her birthday behind bars.

Doherty was aged just 17 when she stabbed Conner Cowper, 18, in the neck at a house party and left him to bleed to death.

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Shockingly, Doherty was pregnant at the time - and high on cocaine and alcohol.

The vicious teen could not be named during her trial at the High Court in Glasgow last year, due to her age.

She gave birth in prison, after being remanded after the murder in April 2018, in Holytown, near Motherwell, North Lanarkshire.

But having turned 18 years old on her birthday, February 18, she can now be identified as statutory anonymity in Scotland now falls away at 18.

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Doherty had a reputation for violence from the age of 11 when she was filmed punching an autistic boy who attended the same school as her.

Footage which provoked national outrage showed Doherty punching the lad in the face five times, while she told him: “I can tell you’re f*****g s******g yourself.”

The boy can be heard saying: “I don’t hit lassies.”

When he dared to move, Doherty shouted in his face: “You ain’t being f*****g cheeky to me, right.

“You’re a f*****g wee s****bag.”

She then urged him to hit her, which he refused to do before Doherty lashed out once more.

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The pint-sized thug was kicked out of the secondary school following the attack in 2013, which was shared widely on Youtube and Facebook at the time.

At her sentencing hearing, the High Court in Edinburgh was told Doherty had a history of violence including possession of knives and had left home aged 15.

Doherty had met Conner Cowper only hours before she killed him at a house party in Holytown, North Lanarkshire, on April 14, 2018.

At her trial, it was said that she had tried to play him off against another man, but lost her rag when Conner called her a “stupid wee girl”.

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A judge jailed her for life with a minimum term of 16 years at the High Court in Edinburgh on January 10.

A former neighbour, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “She was a nice wee lassie - she was always polite to me.

“I was quite surprised when I found out about it.

“It’s a shame, she was pregnant.”

The family of Conner Cowper were too upset to comment when approached.

Doherty’s mother was approached for comment but her partner said the family would not be speaking publicly.

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