DO NOT PUBLISH Murder Trial: Girl in the River - how murderers of Scottish schoolgirl Caroline Glachan finally got caught
By Helen Fear |Murder Trial: Girl in the River shines a light on the tragic murder of Caroline Glachan, a Scottish schoolgirl who never came home - leaving her parents heartbroken.
The two-parter reexamines follows one of the nation’s biggest cold cases - the murder of Caroline Glachan, a Scottish schoolgirl who never came home.
Gripping documentary series, Murder Trial returns with two haunting new cases under the spotlight. As murder suspects go on trial, the victim’s families seek justice in Scotland’s High Courts.
A mystery disappearance. A suspected secret guarded for 16 years. A murder trial in search of answers.
Part one of two. The murder of Scottish schoolgirl Caroline Glachan in August 1996. The original police investigation was hampered by an unwillingness to cooperate with the police and only re-opened in 2019. Three suspects stood accused of killing the 14-year-old, who was found face down in the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, having been violently assaulted. Shocking revelations unfolded in court as Caroline's family sought justice in one of Scotland's most haunting cold cases. Featuring interviews with Caroline's mother, DCI Stuart Grainger the SIO on the case, the mother of key witness 'Archie' and the victim's friends
Calling this a true-crime series is technically right but feels wrong. Rather than dark melodrama, this two-parter offers a sober look inside Scotland’s criminal justice system.
It follows a major trial resulting from a cold-case reinvestigation. In August 1996, the dead body of 14-year-old Caroline Glachan was found on the banks of the River Leven in West Dunbartonshire, but no charges were ever brought.
Decades later, Police Scotland reopened the case and set about testing the alibis of key suspects.
Gripping documentary series, Murder Trial returns with two haunting new cases under the spotlight. As murder suspects go on trial, the victim’s families seek justice in Scotland’s High Courts.
The first two-parter, ‘Girl in the River’, follows one of the nation’s biggest cold cases - the murder of Caroline Glachan, a Scottish schoolgirl who never came home.
Now, three suspects stand accused of brutally killing the 14-year-old, more than two decades after her body was found, face down in the River Leven, Dunbartonshire. Shocking revelations unfold in court as Caroline’s family seek justice in one of Scotland’s most haunting cold cases.
On the 24th August 1996, Caroline Glachan was violently assaulted before being left in the river. Some 27 years later, Robert O’Brien, Andrew Kelly and Donna Marie Brand stand accused of her murder at the High Court in Glasgow.
The original police investigation was hampered by an unwillingness to cooperate with the police and only re-opened in 2019. Throughout that time, Caroline’s heartbroken mother, Margaret McKeich, kept fighting for the truth about who murdered her only child.
“Hope. Hope is the only thing that I have got and I hope that I get some kind of justice for Caroline,” says Margaret. “…it’s going to be a hard trial, it’s going to be hard to hear and see things but I’m going to be there because I feel, as Caroline’s mother, I’ve got to be there. I’ve waited long enough for it. I just thought that this was a day that would never come.”
As the jury discover, Robert ‘Robbie’ O’Brien was 18-years-old in 1996 and in a relationship with Caroline as well as his co-accused, Donna Marie Brand who was pregnant with his child. The Crown suggest O’Brien and his friends lured Caroline to her death whilst they were babysitting four-year-old local boy ‘Archie’ on that fateful night. The defence, meanwhile, argue that the friends never left the house and played no part in Caroline’s murder.
Featuring interviews with Caroline’s mother and testimony from her friends, Murder Trial: Girl In The River also hears from DCI Stuart Grainger the SIO on the case as well as testimony from the mother of key witness ‘Archie’.
As the truth begins to emerge in this gripping murder trial, shocking revelations and chilling details unfold for the very first time, shedding light on a crime that’s proved impossible to solve.
Murder Trial: Girl In The River is a Firecrest Films production for BBC Scotland and BBC Two.
The fate of three defendants hangs in the balance. Two key witnesses reveal more shocking evidence and one defendant chooses to take the stand before the jury must decide whether or not they committed murder.
The fate of three defendants hangs in the balance. Two key witnesses reveal more shocking evidence and one defendant chooses to take the stand before the jury must decide whether or not they committed murder.
For Caroline’s Glachan’s mother, Margaret, justice has been a long time coming: “Sometimes I would think over the years maybe they’re just not gonna get who did it,” she says. “People didn’t want to talk to the police and I found that hard to sit back. And going to the morgue to see her [Caroline] was really hard. I just saw her face but she lay in that morgue for six months…we couldnae bury her because of circumstances of the investigation. There’s no a funeral, there’s no anything where you can gradually move on.”
The jury hear tense exchanges between the defence and Caroline’s school friends, Donna Talbot and Julie O’Sullivan, as well viewing poignant video testimony from the young boy the accused were babysitting on the night of the murder.
Robbie O’Brien, the first accused, gives his provocative witness testimony, followed by compelling gripping closing speeches for both sides.
After 27 years of heartbreak and unanswered questions, the long-awaited verdict is finally within reach and Caroline Glachan’s family will finally learn the truth.
