TRIO JAILED FOR MURDER OF SCHOOLGIRL IN 1996
She will have to serve at least 17 years before she can apply for parole.O'Brien, 45, was sentenced to at least 22 years in prison, while Kelly, 44, was sentenced to at least 18 years.
Judge Lord Braid said O'Brien - who was 18 at the time and had been in relationship with Caroline - was the "main perpetrator" but Brand and Kelly were responsible on an "art and part" basis.
He described the killing as "brutal, depraved and above all wicked".
During the trial, the jury heard she had been "infatuated" with O'Brien.
Caroline’s body was discovered on the banks of the River Leven on 25 August 1996.
During the trial, the jury heard she had been "infatuated" with O'Brien.
On the night of her murder, they had arranged to meet at a bridge over the River Leven at about midnight.
She was later killed in what prosecutors described as a "horrific and violent attack".
Caroline suffered at least 10 blows to the head and extensive skull fractures.
The jury was told she may have been alive, but unconscious, when she entered the water.
Her body was found by a passer-by hours later.
A murder investigation was launched, but there was no breakthrough until the case was re-examined by Police Scotland's Major Investigation Team in 2019.
Officers re-interviewed residents of a street in Renton where O'Brien, Kelly and Brand had claimed they spent the night of the murder.
An upstairs neighbour said she had seen four people - including Kelly and his girlfriend, the late Sarah Jane O'Neill - leaving the flat before midnight.
Lord Braid paid tribute to Caroline in his sentencing statement, telling Brand she had "deprived her of the life she loved".
He said: "A daughter has been taken away from her mother and she spoke eloquently about the lasting pain Caroline's death has caused.
"The void left in her life cannot be filled and the incalculable deep loss and sadness will always be there." Her body was found by a passer-by hours later.
A murder investigation was launched, but there was no breakthrough until the case was re-examined by Police Scotland's Major Investigation Team in 2019.
Officers re-interviewed residents of a street in Renton where O'Brien, Kelly and Brand had claimed they spent the night of the murder.
An upstairs neighbour said she had seen four people - including Kelly and his girlfriend, the late Sarah Jane O'Neill - leaving the flat before midnight.
Lord Braid paid tribute to Caroline in his sentencing statement, telling Brand she had "deprived her of the life she loved".
He said: "A daughter has been taken away from her mother and she spoke eloquently about the lasting pain Caroline's death has caused.
"The void left in her life cannot be filled and the incalculable deep loss and sadness will always be there."
