Convicted sex offender found guilty in Glasgow rape and murder case

Published on Friday 4 May 2007 16:24

A CONVICTED sex offender was today found guilty of raping and murdering a young Polish woman and hiding her body in a Glasgow church.

Peter Tobin was jailed for life and ordered to spend a minimum of 21 years behind bars for the attack on Angelika Kluk, a 23-year-old student.

The 15-person jury at the High Court in Edinburgh required only 3 1/2 hours of deliberation to convict Tobin of the sexually motivated killing that took place last September. Tobin, 60, had denied the charges.

Ms Kluk suffered severe head injuries and multiple stab wounds, before her bound and gagged body was dumped beneath the floor of St Patrick's Church in the Anderston area of Glasgow.

Tobin has a history of violence against young women. He was convicted and sentenced to 14 years for the brutal sexual assault on two girls, age 14 and 15, in Hampshire in 1994. He was released ten years later and moved to Paisley where he used the alias Pat McLaughlin.

Judge Lord Menzies took an hour this morning to complete his guidance to the eight women and seven men of the jury. The judge told jurors to put sympathy out of their minds and to focus solely on the evidence given in court when considering their verdict.

In sentencing Tobin, Lord Menzies said: "In the course of my time in the law I have seen many bad men and I have heard evidence about many terrible crimes which have been committed but I have heard no case more tragic, more terrible than this one.

"You are, in my view, an evil man."