Paige Doherty's killer launches bid to reduce sentence

The shop owner who murdered 15-year-old customer Paige Doherty in a 'savage and frenzied' knife attack is to appeal against the length of his sentence.

15-year-old Paige Doherty was murdered by Leathem in a Clydebank shop. Picture: Collect

John Leathem, 32, stabbed the teenager 61 times and inflicted a total of more than 140 injuries when she stopped at his Delicious Deli in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, on March 19.

He then stored her body in a shed at his nearby home before dumping her remains in bushes two days later.

The married father-of-two was handed a mandatory life sentence at the High Court in Glasgow earlier this month, and told he must spend at least 27 years behind bars.

John Leathem pleaded guilty to murdering 15-year-old Clydebank schoolgirl Paige Doherty. Picture: Handout

A spokesman for the Judicial Office for Scotland confirmed on Wednesday that Leathem has now lodged a notice of his intention to appeal against the sentence.

First offender Leathem admitted Paige’s murder at an earlier court hearing.

A post-mortem examination found the teenager suffered 61 stab wounds, mainly to her head and neck, and 85 further cuts thought to have been sustained as she tried to fight off her attacker.

Passing sentence, judge Lady Rae told the court the killing was ‘’truly reprehensible and impossible to comprehend’’.

John Leathem pleaded guilty to murdering 15-year-old Clydebank schoolgirl Paige Doherty. Picture: Handout

Paige’s mother Pamela Munro said afterwards that there was ‘’no sentence high enough’’ for the killer.

She has also told how she wants to face Leathem in prison to ask him why he committed the horrific crime.

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