Man jailed for raping Amber Gibson months before her murder
- Published
Amber Gibson's body was found in Caddo Glen in Hamilton days after she was last seen
A man who raped a teenager five months before she was murdered by her brother has been jailed.
Jamie Starrs, 20, assaulted and raped Amber Gibson while she was asleep or unconscious at a property in Bothwell in June 2021.
He was found guilty at the High Court in Lanark in July, and on Tuesday he was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison.
He was also convicted of raping another teenage girl in Bothwell in May 2021.
Amber, 16, was sexually assaulted and murdered in November 2021 by her brother Connor Gibson.
He was convicted last month following a separate trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
Det Con Ross McCaig told the jury at Starrs' trial he had taken a statement from Amber about the attack.
She said she met Starrs, who was a stranger to her, and two others before heading to Bothwell.
The court heard that Amber revealed she had been attacked while in a supported accommodation unit in Blantyre.
A teenage boy had told staff who alerted police.
Jamie Starrs has been sentenced to ten and a half years
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.
"I can't remember hugging him or kissing him at all."
Amber identified her attacker after being shown a board of photographs by police.
Det Insp Lorraine Wilson, of Lanarkshire division's rape investigation unit, said Amber's evidence was "key in securing his conviction".
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.
He tried to get this boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to pressure the female into withdrawing her evidence.
As well as his prison sentence, Judge Thomas Welsh ordered Starrs to be supervised for two years on release.
'Appalling crimes'
At the High Court in Edinburgh 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 he would have ordered 11 years to be served in custody but reduced this to 10-and-a-half years to take into account the time that Starrs had spent on remand.
Starrs, who appeared via video link from custody, has been placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.
He was also found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice and a breach of bail conditions.
Michael Meehan KC, who represented Starrs, highlighted that the sentence must take into account sentencing guidelines for under-25s.
The guidelines state that people aged under 25 in Scotland should be given lesser sentences because of their emotional immaturity and the fact that that they have a greater chance of rehabilitation.
Mr Meehan said a report identified that Starrs showed "cognitive and emotional immaturity".
'Traumatic background'
Mr Meehan also urged the judge to consider his client's adverse childhood experiences.
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.
"He has a traumatic background from a young age which perhaps gives some degree of explanation," the lawyer said.
He added that Starrs was "vulnerable to negative influences" and had a "chaotic lifestyle".
The sentencing comes a fortnight after Connor Gibson, 20, was convicted of attacking his sister Amber in Caddo Glen, Hamilton in November 2021.
He was found guilty of removing her clothes, sexually assaulting her with the intention of raping her, inflicting blunt force trauma to her head and body, and strangling her.
Amber was reported missing on the evening of Friday 26 November and her body was discovered in Caddo Glen on 28 November.
Stephen Corrigan - who was unknown to both Amber and Connor Gibson - found her body, but rather than alert police, he inappropriately touched her and then concealed her remains.
The 45-year-old was found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice and breach of the peace.
The two men will be sentenced on 4 September at the High Court in Livingston.
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