By Emily Caulkett-
A man who raped a teenager five months before she was murdered by her monstrous brother has been jailed for 10 years and six months. Jamie Starrs, 20, assaulted Amber Gibson and raped her while she was asleep or unconscious at a property in Bothwell, South Lanarkshire, in June 2021.
Amber, 16, was sexually assaulted and later murdered in November 2021 by her brother, Connor Gibson, who was convicted last month following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow. Her death was tragic indeed, and is reminder of how serious criminal violence against girls can be.
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Starrs was found guilty of raping the teenager following a separate trial at the High Court in Lanark in July.
He was also convicted of raping another teenage girl in Bothwell in May 2021.
Amber told officers: “The reason I think I was raped was that I woke up in a bed with no clothes on my bottom half with a boy I had only met naked under the covers.
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“I can’t remember hugging him or kissing him at all.”
Amber identified her attacker after being shown a board of photographs by police.
The other victim told the court she had been attacked by Starrs while she was drunk and unable to give consent.
The court heard that Starrs attempted to pervert the course of justice by sending threatening messages on Facebook to a boy linked to the second girl.
Amber was reported missing on the evening of Friday 26 November and her body was discovered in Cadzow Glen at about 10.10am on 28 November.
Stephen Corrigan, 45, was found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice and breach of the peace by intimately touching and concealing Amber’s body after discovering it, instead of contacting the emergency services.
Judge Thomas Welsh KC handed Starrs an extended sentence comprising 10 and a half years in custody and two years of supervision upon release at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday.
Sentencing Starrs, who appeared via video link from custody, the judge said: “You have been convicted of appalling crimes against two innocent teenage girls and you have been assessed as being of very high risk of sexual violence on release.
“I am required to take into account your age and difficult upbringing. However, the crimes remain serious and grave, and I will impose an extended sentence.”
He said that he would have ordered 11 years to be served in custody but reduced this to 10 and a half years behind bars to take into account the time that Starrs has spent on remand.
Starrs was also found guilty of a breach of bail conditions, and of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
He has been placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.
Amber Gibson’s body was found in Caddo Glen in Hamilton days after she was last seen Image: Facebook
Giving a plea in mitigation, Michael Meehan KC, representing Starrs asked the court to consider the childhood adverse experience of the defendant., arguing that as he is under 25 the sentence must take into account sentencing guidelines which reflect that a younger person will have a lower level of maturity than an older person.
He told the court that Starrs was removed from parental care at the age of three and developed addiction issues from the age of nine.
Mr Meehan said: “He has a traumatic background from a young age which perhaps gives some degree of explanation.”
The sentencing comes a fortnight after Connor Gibson, 20, was convicted of attacking his sister Amber in woodland in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, in November 2021, removing her clothes, sexually assaulting with the intention of raping her, inflicting blunt force trauma to her head and body, and strangling her.
Missing
Amber was reported missing on the evening of Friday 26 November and her body was discovered in Cadzow Glen at about 10.10am on 28 November.
Stephen Corrigan, 45, was found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice and breach of the peace by intimately touching and concealing Amber’s body after discovering it, instead of contacting the emergency services.
Gibson will be sentenced on 4 September for a crime Judge Lord Mulholland described as “depraved”, while Corrigan will also be sentenced next month.
The intersection of law and psychology often brings forth complex and nuanced considerations when it comes to sentencing individuals who have committed heinous crimes.
The concept of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) refers to various traumatic incidents that occur during an individual’s formative years, such as abuse, neglect, or exposure to violence. It is well-established in the field of psychology that ACEs can have a profound impact on an individual’s emotional and psychological development.
Although these experiences can shape one’s coping mechanisms, interpersonal relationships, and behavioral tendencies later in life, families of the victim in sexual assault or murder cases are severely opposed to lenient considerations that take account of childhood traumatic experiences of the criminal defendant. Therefore, when the defense lawyer invoked ACEs as a mitigating factor, it raised significant questions about the validity and relevance of such considerations in a legal context.
The question of validity and relevance in considering ACEs during legal sentencing is a complex one. On one level, acknowledging the impact of trauma on an individual’s development is an essential aspect of fostering a compassionate justice system. Understanding the context in which an offender’s actions were shaped can provide insights into the factors that contributed to their criminal behavior. In some cases, this understanding can be crucial in offering appropriate rehabilitation and support, which can contribute to the prevention of future crimes.
The validity of considering ACEs in a legal context also raises concerns about the potential for misuse and manipulation. There is a fine line between using past traumas as a means of contextualizing an offender’s actions and allowing them to become a scapegoat for criminal behavior.
The justice system’s primary role is to uphold the rule of law and ensure that individuals are held accountable for their actions. Allowing ACEs to become a blanket justification for criminal behavior could undermine the principles of fairness and justice.
While it is plausible that early trauma can contribute to the development of addiction as a coping mechanism, it remains challenging to definitively establish a causal link between these experiences and specific criminal actions. This raises the question of whether acknowledging the influence of ACEs should lead to a lesser sentence or merely be taken into consideration for rehabilitation efforts.
He said a report identified that Starrs shows “cognitive and emotional immaturity”.
Gibson will be sentenced on 4 September for a crime Judge Lord Mulholland described as “depraved”, while Corrigan will also be sentenced next month.
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