Brother found guilty of sexual assault and murder of Amber Gibson, 16

Connor Gibson, 20, was convicted of attacking his sister Amber in woodland in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, on November 26, 2021, removing her clothes, sexually assaulting with the intention of raping her, inflicting blunt force trauma to her head and body, and strangling her.

Gibson denied the charges against him, but was found guilty on Tuesday after a 13-day trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Judge Lord Mulholland told him: "Your sister – the last person she saw was you strangling her. It was depraved and you will pay a heavy price for that."

He told Gibson he faces a mandatory life sentence with the punishment part to be decided after considering the plea in mitigation on his behalf and a criminal justice social work report.

Amber was reported missing on the evening of Friday, November 26 and her body was discovered in Cadzow Glen about 10.10am on November 28.

Gibson was arrested three days later, on December 1, and, the day before his arrest, posted a chilling tribute to the sister he had murdered, writing on Facebook: "Amber, you will fly high for the rest of time. We will all miss you. Especially me. I love you ginger midget. GBFN (goodbye for now) X.”

The forensic pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination on Amber's body told the court she was found covered in mud and the cause of death was "compression of the neck".

Jurors also heard other forensic evidence that "widespread blood staining" on Gibson's jacket was compatible with Amber and his DNA was also found on her shorts, worn as underwear, which had been "forcibly torn" off.

The court heard Gibson, also known by the surname Niven, did not seem emotional as he spoke to his and Amber's former foster father, Craig Niven, on the day Amber's body was found.

Giving evidence, Mr Niven had said he would not leave the siblings in each other's company because they were "not a good mix".

Mr Niven and his wife had fostered the siblings since Amber was three and her brother was five. The couple were granted permanent care of the pair a few years later.

At the time of Amber's murder, Connor was living at the Blue Triangle homeless hostel in Hamilton while Amber was at the town's Hillhouse children's home.

Mr Niven told the court he had not heard from his former foster son during Amber's disappearance but, in a call on the day her body was discovered, Gibson told him the pair had "fallen out" when they saw each other two days previously.

Jurors also heard from Peter Benson, of Police Scotland's cyber crime group, who examined a phone found where Gibson was living.

It showed that on November 27 at about 12.34am, the phone's user wrote to a Snapchat group with five recipients: "I'm really going to need you guys help with something when yous come back. I'm being serious."

Also on trial was Stephen Corrigan, 45, who 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 her at some point in the following two days, instead of contacting the emergency services.

Corrigan, said in court not to be known to Gibson, also denied the charge and had lodged a special defence of alibi.

The judge deferred sentence until September 4 at Livingston High Court for pleas in mitigation and background reports.