The Sad, Shocking Life And Death Of Amber Gibson
The girl in the photograph below is Amber Gibson. She looks happy, as a beautiful young girl of that age should be, but the story of her short life is sad and tragic in equal measure. It is also one that beggars belief in that some people could sink to such depths of depravity as she suffered before and after her death.
Amber was born New Year’s Day, 2005, the daughter of Peter Gibson and his much younger common law wife Anne-Marie Adams. To say that neither Amber or her brother Connor had a bad start in life is a classic understatement. Their father is said to have beaten their mother severely. No details can be confirmed, but in 2008, South Lanarkshire Council removed them from the family home and they were placed in care.
Fostering siblings is difficult, but shortly they were both fostered by Craig and Carol Niven. (Amber was also known as Amber Niven on this account). When she was fourteen, Amber was moved to Hillhouse, a dedicated children’s home in Hamilton. Connor remained with the Nivens until 2020, when he turned eighteen.
In June 2021, Amber met another teenager, Jamie Starrs, and went home with him. Alcohol appears to have been consumed, and while she was incapacitated, Starrs helped himself. This was no drunken hook-up with some brainwashed campus feminist who withdrew her consent retroactively, but a dedicated act of predation. And Amber was not his first victim. At that time, he was on bail for raping another girl. Starrs was convicted of both rapes, and on August 8, 2023, he was given a ten and a half year sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh followed by two years of supervision.
In April 2023, Amber’s father was given a ten year sentence at the High Court in Glasgow for raping an unnamed woman, although from the details released to the public, there can be little doubt as to who she was. Reporting of this conviction was suppressed until after the conviction of his son.
On November 26, 2023, Connor Gibson visited Amber at the children’s home, and the two went for a walk; she had been looking forward to seeing him. This would be the last time, because he lured her into a wooded area known as Cadzow Glen, and murdered her. Some have reported that she was raped, but this appears to have been an attempted rape only, because she clearly gave a good account of herself.
Attacking a female like this under any circumstances is beyond the pale, but when that female is a girl rather than a woman, and the murderer’s own sister, it beggars belief.
Amber was reported missing the same night, but her body was not found for two days for a reason that beggars belief, and will be discussed shortly.
After the murder, Connor Gibson attempted to destroy forensic evidence and to set up an alibi, but CCTV is everywhere nowadays. After Amber’s body was found, he posted a tribute to Facebook, but wasn’t fooling anyone, and he was arrested on December 1.
Had Amber’s body been left where it was, it would have been found earlier. In fact it was found earlier, but not by the authorities. A thorough autopsy revealed not only the DNA of Connor Gibson but of another man, Stephen Corrigan. He too was arrested, On January 17, 2023, he was granted conditional bail by the High Court in Glasgow.
In October 2005, a man named Stephen Corrigan was convicted of running a “vice den” from an apartment in Aberdeen. If this is the same Stephen Corrigan, that would explain why the police had his DNA. But why did Amber’s body have his DNA on it?
If you were to find the body of a naked teenager or a naked anyone, what would you do? Dial 999, 911 or whatever, right? What did Stephen Corrigan do though? He hid it. He also did something so vile that it earned him a nine year sentence.
With the quantity of evidence against him, the conviction of Connor Gibson was a formality. Like him, Stephen Corrigan pleaded not guilty, and was not believed.
On September 4 last year, Lord Mulholland handed Connor Gibson the mandatory life sentence. You can read his sentencing remarks here, and if you have a strong stomach, you can read what he said about Stephen Corrigan by scrolling down.
In spite of his age, the 22 year tariff awarded Gibson sounds too lenient, but he is likely to have a rough time in prison because he will vie with Aaron Campbell for the title of Scotland’s most hated inmate. If you haven’t heard of Campbell, when he was just sixteen years old, he kidnapped, raped and murdered six year old Alesha MacPhail. His tariff was set at 27 years. He had the audacity to appeal it, and incredibly it was reduced to 24 years.
That being said, it is possible that neither of these sickos will ever be released. In June 2022, Campbell was seriously attacked in Poltmouth Young Offenders Institution and had to be taken to an outside hospital for treatment. Well, he didn’t have to be treated, but even the worst of the worst are entitled to some consideration under our legal system, and short of serial killers, they don’t come any worse than Aaron Campbell and Connor Gibson.