Paige Doherty

**Paige Doherty** (April 17, 2000 - March 19, 2016) was a student from Clydebank, Scotland who was murdered on 19 March 2016.

## Events

### Background

Paige Doherty was a 15-year-old schoolgirl from Clydebank, Scotland. She lived with her mother, stepdad, and siblings and was a fun, animated teen who loved to dance. Doherty worked part-time at a hairdresser’s shop and, when she finished school, she dreamed of opening her own beauty salon.

### Disappearance

On March 18, 2016, Doherty stayed over at a friend’s house for the night. It was a Friday night and so the next morning Doherty left her friend's house and made her way to her Saturday job at the hairdresser's.

Just after 8:00 AM she decided to stop by the ‘Delicious Deli’, as she often did, to buy a roll for breakfast. When she went into the deli that morning, Paige Doherty had been the only customer.

When she didn’t show up for work that day, people began to get worried. That evening, her mother decided to call the police, as no one had heard from the teen all day. It was then, that a missing person inquiry was started.

### Investigation

Doherty's body was found on the roadside near Glasgow's Great Western Road two days after she disappeared. Her body had been dumped around six that morning, and she was discovered at noon that same day.

Doherty had been stabbed in the head and neck and suffered more than 250 wounds. The last sighting of her was on CCTV at a deli shop in Clydebank, owned by John Leathem.

A woman who worked at a local hairdresser shop stated she had gone to the deli on the morning of Doherty's murder, and tried to peer into the windows. When John Leathem saw her, he said ‘Oh, what a morning! The lassie didn’t turn up. I had a nosebleed, and I need to collect my car.’ It was later established that this was an excuse for the blood in the deli, the closed blinds, the fact that the deli was closed to business when it was normally open.

Leathem left the deli, and hurried off to the nearby shop. He bought a series of items (bleach, wipes, garbage bags, etc.), before returning to his shop. He drove his car to the front of the store, then carried Doherty’s body out to his vehicle, and put her in the boot.

Once John Leathem had driven off with Doherty’s body in the trunk of his car, he didn’t immediately dump her body in the wooded are where she was discovered two days later. Instead, he stored Paige Doherty’s body to his garden shed for a short while. Once that was done, Leathem had changed into fresh clothes, and then returned to work. Leathem continued to serve customers all day long, until 3:15 PM.

### Arrest

Leathem didn’t move her body until March 21, two days after she was murdered. CCTV cameras caught Leathem’s car close to the body dump site — near the wooded area by the access road. The dump site was less than a mile from Leathem’s deli. He had cleaned out his car as best he could, trying to make sure that no forensic evidence remained, to tie him to the girl’s murder.

Once police realized that John Leathem’s deli was likely the murder scene (as it was the last place she had been seen), they went and searched his house, car, and the deli. Three days after Doherty’s murder, John Leathem was arrested by police, and taken to the station.

At first, Leathem was adamant that he had nothing to do with the young girl’s murder. But as time went on, and the police were able to produce more evidence against him, John Leathem finally admitted to killing Paige Doherty.

### Trial

John Leathem claimed that Paige threatened to tell people that he had "touched her" inappropriately, if he refused to give her a job, because she was underage. Leathem said that he’d suffered ‘a gross over-reaction’ to the girl’s words. He claimed to have had a relative of his that had been put on the sex offender’s register, and he feared that if Paige Doherty started accusing him, he’d end up on the registry as well.

### Sentencing

On September 5, 2016, John Leathem pleaded guilty in Glasgow’s High Court. Leathem was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow, where judge Lady Rae set a minimum time of 27 years in jail before becoming eligible to apply for parole. However in February 2017, following an appeal by Leathem, the minimum term was reduced to 23 years.

### Aftermath

Following the news that Doherty had been murdered in John Leathem’s deli shop, Clydebank residents were furiouss. Vandals targeted the business multiple times, spray-painting messages on the deli.

A few days after Paige Doherty’s murder, a memorial was held in the nearby Whitecrook park. Hundreds of people showed up, carrying pink balloons, to grieve for the murdered teen. Clydebank’s Titan Crane was also lit up in pink, in honour of the teen, and to show support for Doherty’s loved ones. A hashtag (#PoutforPaige) was created in the girl’s honour. Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon posted a picture of themself pouting, using the hashtag in Paige Doherty’s honour.

Paige Doherty’s mother, Pamela Munro, decided to set up a charity in her deceased daughter’s name. It was called ‘Paige’s Promise’, and the charity had set up two children’s self-defence classes (Clydebank, and Bishopbriggs). It would also provide support to families whose children had been murdered.

Paige Doherty’s funeral was held at the St. Margaret’s Catholic Church. The funeral was attended by more than six hundred family, friends, and local townspeople mourning the tragic loss of the Clydebank teen.

## News

*For news articles on Paige Doherty, see here.*

## External links

* Murder of Paige Doherty • Wikipedia
* Paige Doherty • Find a Grave
* Leathem v. HM Advocate • Scottish Courts and Tribunals