Murderer of Irish vet jailed for life

By PAT HURST
Published on 26/02/2013 00:34

A SERIAL sex offender with “perverted desires” was jailed for life yesterday for the rape and murder of Irish vet Catherine Gowing.

Clive Sharp, 46, harboured fantasies of imprisoning and killing women to satisfy his sexual desires before the murder of his victim in Flintshire, North Wales, Mold Crown Court heard.

Sharp left one woman tied to a bed after she refused his demands, then hours later crept into the house of Miss Gowing in the dead of night before tying her to the bed and raping her.

And in a further “callous act” after killing his victim, he mutilated her by dismembering the body. Sharp had been jailed for sex offences twice previously.

The victim, described as a “vibrant, wonderful woman” had the “great misfortune” of being good friends with the killer’s then-girlfriend.

Sharp admitted murder last month and was yesterday jailed for life, with judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams ordering he serve a minimum of 37 years before being eligible for parole.

“This is a horrific, cold-hearted murder, carried out to gratify your perverted sexual desires,” the judge told Sharp. “The proper inference must be she was subjected to various forms of sexual abuse. The likelihood was she was gagged to prevent her call for help. You are, on any view, a very serious danger to women.”