Karen Buckley missing in Glasgow

[hollyisalovelyname]

26 year old occupational therapist student missing in Glasgow.
Mumsnetters Please keep your eyes and ears open - you might find something beneficial to her being found.

He was 17 at the time of the car crash. Surely the sexual assault was after that?

I suspect I'm wrong as surely his defence would have mentioned a previous brain injury.

What an odd history though:
Nearly kills self in a car accident as soon as old enough to drive
Forgery conviction by 20
Sexual assault
And that's what we know about from a quick google

He also seems really stupid. Asking shop assistants how to clean blood stains etc.

Until they fell on hard times and he had to go to Bearsden Academy. When it all came out I discovered from my neighbours that he used to live in my house. I've moved out now thankfully (really gave me the creeps).

Yes, and they ended up with a spoiled, entitled, dangerous and arrogant son for their trouble and expense. Another public school fuck-up.

I have known another in just the same mould, who seethes with resentment because he doesn't have the charmed life he thinks he was born to have... Thinks normal rules don't apply to him - really thinks he is inherently special and the rest of us are plebs who just get on his way. One of his school friends actually committed a murder in his twenties - same social issues, drug/risk taking and real, real arrogance and anger about others lack of deference to him.

RIP Karen, it is absolutely devastating that you ever encountered this apology for a human being.

Munch and Camel the sexual assault was definitely before, the article below in ML29 link says he was 17 at the time of the assault - it was in 2011. The car crash was 2012.

The reason the trial for it wasn't until 2013 is because it was postponed while he recovered.

I don't want any of us thinking that somehow this murder wasn't his fault, he had a serious violent history even before the crash.

But part of me wonders if maybe that was why the jury found him not guilty, as they felt sorry for him after his accident? Because otherwise I don't know how they could have come to that conclusion, given there were witnesses.

I really can't understand how the evidence from witnesses to the sexual assault wasn't taken more seriously - people hearing terrified screams and the guy seen doing his belt up - how could those things not be considered damning?

It sounds like he may have been a good actor and known how to manipulate the jury with the right words.

He does sound remarkably stupid from the description of his efforts to hide the body - asking in the shop about products for removing bloodstains, I mean seriously. Not meaning to be flippant but that's surely crime 101?

If the only charge was attempted rape, some of the jury may have felt that there was, say, evidence he had grabbed her but not enough to be beyond reasonable doubt that he was attempting to rape her. If there had been a second count of assault or similar he might have been found guilty on that.

I've been on a jury, we were all very keen to get it right. We were reviewing a crime committed by several people, and whilst we utterly believed the victim as to what he'd experienced, we had to separate out exactly who had done what. The victim hadn't been able to ID the assailants in an identity parade - I doubt that detail would have reached the papers for one - reports are necessarily selective.

It could have gone either way in the jury room even though we all believed the crime had happened. (We convicted in the end).

None of this is to say I don't believe his first victim - I do. I also don't think "beyond reasonable doubt" is well explained. We can all come up with alternative explanations for circumstances (maybe she screamed because she saw a spider etc) but those shouldn't lead to reasonable doubt.

And when we did convict, there was a definite moment of relief when we heard about the previous convictions.

I have read that he pretended to be a taxi driver and that is how he convinced her to walk with him. Although her friends at the time said she did not like to use taxis alone.

It seems he did similar with the girl he assaulted, he randomly started chatting to her as she was walking alone and suggested they get a taxi together, which is how he got her alone and assaulted her.

I also doubt his 'extremely drunk' excuse, I very much doubt that Karen Buckley would have walked anywhere with a drunk stranger, let alone get into car with a drunk taxi driver.

I also thought his mothers comment was very thoughtless.

Yes, I was wrong and the accident was after the assault. Just incredible he went so wrong so young.

LAT, I can't find the article with the quote now. But it was something to the effect that 'We are devastated, we are devastated for Karen Buckley's family, but we are devastated as a family.

Maybe the woman was mis-quoted or she was asked a few questions which she answered individually and the journalist put them together and paraphrased to get a quote, but it came across as a bit thoughtless and self centred.

In that STV article about the attempted rape, they report lots on how being accused of the crime has affected him etc, but nothing on the effect on her life! Unless I've missed something?

It might be that she didn't want to talk, too upset had having been blatantly assaulted by a stranger, with witnesses even seeing it and still not being believed. And maybe for fear of being recognised and outed.

At least I hope it's that, And not bias by the journalist about how all us slutty wimin ruin men's lives with our expectations of bodily autonomy.

Although who knows. I don't know what to think anymore.

The girl did give an interview, apparently she wrote to the minister of justice after his acquittal to warn them that he would strike again and probably do worse, how right she was ! poor girl.

It was so tragic reading how her life has been since the attack and his acquittal, and then hearing his name again in the news. She says she wants to just get on with her life in private now.

Shocking when you read her account of how he was so polite and normal to her until he grabbed her, he totally fooled poor Karen too.

www.heraldscotland.com/news/13599092.Rape_case_woman_warned_minister_Alexander_Pacteau_would_kill/

He has been jailed for a minimum of 23 years.

The Crown apparently dropped the charge of "attempting to defeat the ends of justice", the judge Lady Rae, said she was disappointed they dropped it as she therefore couldn't jail him for longer.

Here's hoping he never makes it out of jail alive.

Hope he never sees the light of day again.