Amber Gibson murder accused was 'dishevelled with dirt on hands'

A man on trial for murdering his sister returned home looking dishevelled on the night she is believed to have been killed, a court has heard.

Connor Gibson, 20, is accused of sexually assaulting and murdering 16-year-old Amber Gibson in Hamilton in November 2021.

Her body was found in the town's Cadzow Glen, days after she was last seen.

Mr Gibson was living at the Blue Triangle Housing Association unit in Hamilton at the time.

Suzanne Duddy, who was a night shift worker at the unit, told the High Court in Glasgow he arrived there just before midnight.

She said he pushed into the office and slumped on a chair.

Ms Duddy said Mr Gibson's clothes were really dirty and added: "What drew my attention most was his hands. His hands were very, very dirty to his wrists."

She said she asked if he was OK but he did not answer.

Ms Duddy told the court: "There was dirt on his shoes. There was a cut on his left shin. He complained there were stings on his arms like scratches. I asked if he was hurt. He didn't answer me."

Mr Gibson is accused of removing Amber's clothes and sexually assaulting her. It is claimed he repeatedly inflicted blunt force trauma to her head and body as well as compressing her neck with his hands and did so with intent to rape her.

Mr Gibson is alleged to have told police he last saw his sister after she walked off from an argument near a community centre in Hamilton on the day she died.

He is also charged with disposing of evidence after it is claimed he binned his own bloodstained clothing in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice.

The accused was on bail at the time of the murder.

Ms Duddy went on to tell the court that Mr Gibson told her he wanted to use the office phone to call the Hillhouse children's unit where his sister Amber was staying.

She said the accused told her he had family issues and had been arguing with his sister.

After he spent about 30 seconds on the phone, Ms Duddy said she asked him again if he was OK.

"He said again he had family issues and had argued with his sister and said he phoned the children's home to ask if she got home safely," Ms Duddy told prosecutor Richard Goddard KC.

She said she advised Mr Gibson to have a shower to see if that would help with the scratches on his arm.

After he had a shower, the witness said Mr Gibson came into the office and told her he had been in a pub called ML 3 and had been drinking "venom".

The court was shown CCTV footage in which Mr Gibson is alleged to be seen carrying a plastic bin bag towards a row of wheelie bins outside the housing association unit.

Ms Duddy said she thought it was a carrier bag that Mr Gibson was carrying. She said she did not see Mr Gibson put anything in the bins as the cameras did not show that, but that he came back without the bag.

She said she reported this to a colleague to tell the police.

Under cross-examination with regard to the dirt she said she had seen on Mr Gibson, Ms Duddy said she had asked him if he had fallen in a ditch and he said he had.

A residential worker at the children's unit where Amber Niven was staying later told the court she "had a bad feeling" after speaking to Connor Gibson on the night it is believed Amber was killed.

Alison Leonard said Amber had left her brother's number with staff before going out to meet him, saying her own phone was low on charge.

Ms Leonard said she called Amber's phone at 10 minutes to midnight and then Connor Gibson's but there was no response from either.

Twenty minutes later, she got a call back from Mr Gibson. "He said he had a bad evening and everything was a bit fuzzy," Ms Leonard told the court.

She said he told her he and Amber had an argument and she stormed off, but he had no recollection of when that was.

Ms Leonard said she advised him that if Amber did not return she would have to phone the police.

Asked what his reaction to that was, she said: "In my opinion he got quite defensive and said, 'like I said we had an argument and she stormed off'."

Another man, Stephen Corrigan, 44, is also on trial in relation to the circumstances surrounding the discovery of Amber Niven's remains.

It is claimed Mr Corrigan found her body, but rather than alert police he inappropriately touched her and then hid her remains under bushes and branches.

He is accused of a breach of the peace and trying to defeat the ends of justice. Mr Corrigan has lodged a special defence of alibi saying he was elsewhere at the time.

Both men deny all the charges against them and the trial continues.