Mother of murdered Paige wants to meet her killer

The mother of murdered teenager Paige Doherty said she wants to face her killer in prison and ask him why he committed the horrific crime.

John Leathem, 32, was jailed for life with a minimum of 27 years after pleading guilty to the savage and frenzied'' murder of the 15-year-old at his sandwich shop in Clydebank.

The High Court in Glasgow heard he stabbed the teenager 61 times and inflicted a total of more than 140 injuries when she stopped at his Delicious Deli in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, on March 19, then stored her body in a shed at his nearby home before dumping her remains in bushes two days later.

Paige's mother, Pamela Munro, was at the court on Wednesday to see Leathem sentenced.

Now she has spoken out about her wish to confront him and find out the true motive that drove him to murder her daughter in such a brutal fashion.

I think he owes that to us at least; to say to us this is the reason. He's got nothing else to lose.

Hopefully one day I can face him. I want him to accept a visit from me, for me to face him and say to him - ask him face to face.

Paige is my daughter. I will ask the question but I'll do it appropriately and I'll do it to his face when he accepts a visit. I think he will accept a visit eventually but we'll see.''

The only suggestion of motive in court was Leathem's claim he was frightened'' at a perceived threat from Paige that she would say hetouched her inappropriately'' if he did not give her a job - which Judge Lady Rae highlighted was not backed up by any evidence.

Ms Munro rubbished his claims, saying it never happened''.

I'm disgusted that he could do something so horrific to a wee girl who was honestly the most respectful wee girl you would ever meet. She would never do anything to provoke anyone.

She also said police told her of rumours about a possible relationship between the two but found no evidence, adding that a post-mortem examination confirmed Paige had not been pregnant.

She said: Obviously there's lots of rumours go about. They're all lies. The police investigate everything. There's never been a phone call, a text message, an email, any contact between any of the two of them.

No, she was an innocent 15-year-old, she walked into a shop to buy a roll, trusted the person and he's attacked her.''

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