21-year-old Alexander Pacteau, who initially denied the charges made against him before pleading guilty, was yesterday sentenced to 23 years behind bars for the callous murder of the much-loved Co. Cork-native last April.
Having attended Pacteau's hearing, John and Marian Buckley, Karen's grief stricken parents, addressed waiting media and reflected on the previous four months as they attempt to come to terms with the passing of their daughter.
Paying tribute to the gregarious young woman and the tragic circumstances in which she lost her life, her parents said: "Today's life sentence will not bring our beautiful Karen back. Our little angel has been taken from us forever in the cruellest of ways. We mourn for her every day."
Acknowledging the sentence handed down by Judge Lady Rae at Glasgow's High Court, Karen's family said:"If the 23-year sentence will, however, ensure that women are safe from harm from the truly evil coward who took our beautiful Karen's precious life."
Taking a moment to refer directly to Pacteau, the man who murdered their daughter before disposing of her remains in a remote Glasgow farm, the Buckley family asserted: "We hope that he is never released and spends every day in prison haunted by what he did."
Thanking the public, the police force and Prosecution services for their help and support over the last four months, John Buckley now requested the Buckley family be allowed grieve in peace.
"We all want to move on and try to piece our lives back together. We have three wonderful sons and we need to be there for each other as a family. Karen is at peace now and we know that she is in heaven looking down on us and helping us," he finished.
Our thoughts are with the Buckley family today.
