Brother goes on trial accused of strangling teenage sister Amber Gibson to death in Cadzow Glen, Hamilton

A man has gone on trial accused of sexually assaulting and murdering his teenage sister.

Connor Gibson allegedly killed Amber Gibson, 16, at Cadzow Glen in Hamilton, Lanarkshire on November 26, 2021.

Her body was found days after she was last seen following a missing person search by police.

Prosecutors at the High Court in Glasgow claim the 20-year-old removed Amber’s clothes and repeatedly inflicted blunt force trauma to her head and body.

Amber Gibson, 16, was found dead in Cadzow Glen in Hamilton, Lanarkshire. Facebook

Gibson – who also uses the surname Niven as did his sister – is then said to have strangled the teenager with his hands.

It is claimed he did this with intent to rape her and murdered her.

Gibson faces further charges of attempting to defeat the ends of justice and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

This includes claims he got rid of clothes he had been wearing and that he called the children’s home Amber was staying at to pretend she was still alive.

Amber Gibson was found in Cadzow Glen park, Hamilton. STV News

Gibson is also said to have told police he last saw his sister after she walked off from an argument near to a community centre in Hamilton on the day of the alleged killing.

He is then said to have visited another man in the town.

Another man is on trial accused of inappropriately touching Amber’s dead body.

Co-accused Stephen Corrigan, 45, does not face the murder allegation, but is instead charged with breach of the peace and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

It is claimed Corrigan found Amber’s body, but rather than alert police, he inappropriately touched her and then hid her remains under bushes and branches.

This is said to have occurred at somepoint between November 26 and November 28, 2021.

Corrigan has lodged a special defence of alibi claiming that he was elsewhere at the time.

Both Gibson – represented by Tony Graham KC – and Corrigan – whose lawyer is solicitor advocate Rhonda Anderson – both deny the charges.

Richard Goddard KC is leading the prosecution.

Addressing jurors at the start of the trial, Lord Mulholland told them verdicts should be returned on the evidence and not based on “emotion”, “morality” or “lifestyle” choices of others.

The trial continues.