How chilling CCTV footage of Paige Doherty’s final moments helped catch her killer
FILM vital to catching fiend John Leathem who was sentenced to life in prison today for her brutal and savage murder
FILM vital to catching fiend John Leathem who was sentenced to life in prison today for her brutal and savage murder
THE man who killed Scots schoolgirl Paige Doherty in a frenzied knife attack was nailed as her killer thanks to a catalogue of damning CCTV images.
John Leathem was caged for at least 27 years this morning after being caught on camera dumping the 15-year-old's body and trying to cover up the crime scene.
The monster, 32, initially denied knowing Paige - even telling police he was positive they wouldn't find any of her blood in his sandwich shop days after brutally murdering her in a ten-minute bloodbath.
The killer's frenzied knife attack in Delicious Deli in Clydebank left the schoolgirl with 146 knife wounds after being stabbed 61 times. She also suffered 43 blows to her head and neck, some of which were "fatal lacerations".
Her battered body was found two days later in a wooded area in Glasgow in a sickening crime which shocked Scotland.
The cop who led the hunt for her murderer said the monster was damned by catalogue of evidence which was all caught on camera.
He revealed: “I am sure the weight of this evidence led to Leathem’s guilty plea.”
Leathem was also handed a six-year term for attempting to defeat the ends of justice. It will run concurrently with his life sentence.
He originally denied knowing the teen when contacted by one of his staff on behalf of Paige's worried mum.
But he later revealed she had been in the deli to buy a roll that morning.
After her body was found he was quizzed by police about her murder.
Investigations had found she had gone into his deli "but had not walked away", which led to his shop, home and car being searched.
But he still denied having anything to do with the killing - telling detectives he was "positive" they wouldn't find Paige's blood in his shop.
But blood was said to have been found in "numerous locations" despite "obvious efforts to clean up."
The killer was snared thanks to CCTV footage, which showed Paige entering the deli but not coming back out. Ten minutes later, Leathem was caught on camera putting her body in the boot of his car - CCTV shows her foot with a white sock on sticking out from the bin bag he wrapped her in.
Here we show you the exact CCTV footage that helped police catch Leathem.
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