(TENSE MUSIC)
In the early hours of a cold autumn morning in 2021,
the neighbours of young mother Claire Inglis were awoken by her boyfriend.
He was shouting, saying, "She's fallen down the stairs,
"she's fallen down the stairs. Help me. I need help."
The good Samaritans found Claire almost lifeless in her home.
The neighbours rush in
and they find Claire's partially clothed body in the bedroom.
She's obviously incredibly injured.
Claire's parents were also woken that morning,
to learn of an unfolding nightmare.
I shouted at the first policeman I seen at the top of the stairs,
is she alive? He said, "She was five minutes ago."
Claire's boyfriend was 26-year-old Christopher McGowan.
And his version of events just didn't add up.
Falling down the stairs does not result in all of your injuries
being concentrated on your skull.
It doesn't result in signs of strangulation.
Christopher McGowan was lying,
and he would eventually be exposed as one of Britain's most evil killers.
(DRAMATIC THEME MUSIC)
Despite a notorious and well-known history of criminality,
in November 2021,
Christopher McGowan was released from prison
and placed in the home of his girlfriend,
28-year-old Claire Inglis.
She lives in her own, she's vulnerable. She has a young child.
McGowan was known to be taking drink and drugs.
He's got convictions for domestic violence.
Twenty-six-year-old McGowan had convinced a Scottish court
that the relationship would help him change for the better.
I'm absolutely astonished
that this man was bailed to this young woman's address.
They'd only been in a relationship for a number of weeks,
and this has got domestic abuse written all over it.
In the aftermath of her murder,
Claire's family were left wondering why a violent thug
was bailed to their daughter's home.
It's just a horrible thought to think, you know,
if things had maybe been done right, she would still be here.
And that's hard to accept. We just don't want
another family going through even an ounce of what we've gone through.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
This killer's story begins in the small city of Stirling
in central Scotland.
Christopher McGowan was born on the 18th of May, 1995.
I don't think he was maybe given the best chance in life.
He started offending really young.
He had his first conviction at age 14.
And he would commit any kind of crime.
Somebody who you might describe as absolutely lawless.
There are three assaults.
one incident of carrying a knife,
one incident of dealing heroin.
There is also a conviction,
which is a breach of the peace with a domestic aggravation,
so quite a lengthy and varied criminal history.
In 2011,
16-year-old McGowan started dating a 14-year-old girl.
They would eventually move in together.
But it was a far from a happy home.
McGowan's girlfriend twice reported him to the police for assault.
McGowan had quite a few convictions,
one of which was a domestic, assault on his girlfriend.
And we also know that an allegation had been made
that he had actually kicked his girlfriend on another occasion.
The police decided that there was insufficient evidence
at that time for him to be charged.
Despite all this, the couple had a child together,
but fatherhood did nothing to stop McGowan's destructive behaviour.
So, McGowan is misusing Valium,
misusing alcohol, drinking excessive amounts.
McGowan's unstable behaviour
led to him receiving 39 convictions
for a wide range of offences.
We have domestic assaults, robbery,
attacking strangers for money
but also attacking a police officer with a knife.
So, this guy does not care.
He uses violence like his first language.
He was known locally as Kicky McGowan. That was his nickname.
He had a reputation in the town as someone who would...
cause bother, cause disruption.
Just a few streets away from Christopher McGowan
lived Claire Inglis, who was also born and bred in Stirling.
She was just such a good toddler.
She was a girly girl.
She was always singing, dancing,
just loved her gran and granddad.
And then Emma came along, and she was just a brilliant wee sister.
She just loved her.
From everyone that I've spoke to during my time covering this case,
they've all described Claire as fun and bubbly.
They said, she didn't have a bad bone in her body.
She would do anything for anyone.
She went off to study childminding at university.
To all intents and purposes,
a wonderful young woman.
Claire had been in a loving relationship,
and in 2014, when she was 20,
she'd given birth to a baby son.
Claire's life was basically for Robbie when Robbie arrived.
Oh, aye. It was the making of her, it really was.
And everybody you speak to in Stirling, she had him immaculate.
Her whole life was mapped around Robbie.
But in 2017,
tragedy struck the young family.
When Claire's son was quite small,
his dad passed away in some kind of road traffic accident.
Claire and Robbie were left alone
and had to make a new life for themselves,
with help from Claire's parents.
Basically was the three of us.
I was like her best friend.
So she'd be down for her tea maybe Tuesday, Thursday,
then Ian would come in on Friday.
I would get him sorted for the weekend. I'd go up there
and come back down on Sunday night.
She'd be going to her bed, and I'd be,
"Right, I'm my away down the road."
Claire also had the support of her friends,
one of whom had just had a second child with HER partner...
..Christopher McGowan.
She went, "They've had a wee baby, and I've got a parcel coming
"and I'm gonna go over..."
This beautiful wee suit came, the wee sleep suit,
the beautiful bag and the card. And away she went.
So, she came back and she went,
"Oh, she says, I don't know why she's with him.
"He's so bad to her. She could do a lot better."
So, that was the very first of him
ever getting mentioned in Claire's life.
Despite his growing family,
McGowan's run ins with the law were far from over.
In 2019, he was in trouble yet again.
McGowan is involved in a dangerous driving incident
where police are chasing him.
McGowan was charged and bailed.
Early in 2020,
he was arrested for a violent, unprovoked attack.
He had assaulted and beat up a man and stole his wallet.
Once again, McGowan was bailed.
By August 2021,
McGowan's relationship with his former partner was over,
and he had his eye on someone new.
Claire encounters Christopher McGowan in the street in Stirling
in Scotland, where they live, and he yells at her across the street.
She went, "I was coming up the road with Robbie from the school,
"and Christopher McGowan shouted on me."
McGowan had been involved in an incident
that had resulted in him being injured.
She says, "Oh, he's done something to his leg.
So, he had this leg all strapped up,
and she says, "I was just mortified in front of Robbie.
"I couldn't wait to get away from him. He's just a bad one.
And that's because she was familiar with who he was
and some of the things that he'd done.
Claire and her mum spoke almost every day.
And soon Fiona received a phone call that she would never forget.
She went, "I've actually got something to tell you,
I'm in a relationship now. So I'm saying, "Who?"
And she went, "Er, Christopher McGowan."
And I went, "Kicky McGowan?" And she went, "Yeah."
And I went, "Oh, be quiet."
The way Claire was, she had a wicked sense of humour. We both did.
And then she went, "Mum, I'm serious.
"I swear on Robbie's life, I'm in a relationship."
And Ian just said, "That's it, then. That's it. Just hang up the phone.
"If that's who she wants as a father figure for Robbie, that's it."
Claire's parents were horrified their daughter was dating a man
with such a violent criminal history.
It was just devastating. Absolutely devastating.
She couldn't understand how that happened so quickly,
but I think that McGowan had spotted Claire.
Targeted Claire.
She was not the type that you'd have thought that would've wanted
to have been in a relationship with McGowan. They were chalk and cheese.
Fiona and Ian's concerns were valid,
but they had no idea the relationship would have such a tragic outcome.
In just a few months,
Claire Inglis would be lying on the floor of her own home
fighting for her life
By the late summer of 2021,
28-year-old Claire Inglis had begun a relationship
with serial offender Christopher McGowan in Stirling, Scotland.
In early September,
he was recalled to jail for breaching his bail conditions.
Despite this, Claire remained loyal to her new partner.
Claire's devotion to Christopher McGowan was so great
that she visited him in jail.
On the 19th of September,
26-year-old McGowan was back in court
and pled guilty to a 2019 dangerous driving charge,
as well as breach of bail conditions.
With sentencing deferred for a month,
McGowan used Claire as an excuse to get himself released from jail.
He's got this relationship, very new relationship, with Claire.
But he's already using that,
leveraging that, to say, "Look, I've got somewhere to go."
She had a huge heart. And I think she thought she could change him.
"I'll bring him in, he's homeless.
"I'll make him part my wee family." She was just looking for love.
McGowan's lawyer told the court he was motivated to reduce his drinking
and drug taking.
They said that McGowan was likely to become a reformed character,
not wanting to take drugs
and Valium because he was in a stable relationship with Claire.
But the reality of things is, they don't normally work like that.
Everything that he's done since he was 14 till he is 28, 14 years,
is she really going to be the person that we can say
is going to change his character, the way he lived his life?
Highly unlikely.
No arguments were put forward to oppose his release,
and McGowan was bailed to Claire's address.
The couple had been in a relationship for barely a month.
What on earth were they thinking when they bailed him to that address
with a young vulnerable mum with a young child?
This seasoned career criminal with a violent past.
She may not have known it,
but Claire was sharing her home with a ticking time bomb.
Christopher McGowan was a violent man trying to kick a drug habit.
When a person who is dependent on two substances
promises to stay away from these substances,
the body would've gone into a severe withdrawal syndrome.
He would've experienced agitation,
anxiety, hallucinations, paranoia.
Nobody around him would be safe.
There were growing signs that Claire had entered a toxic partnership.
The relationship with McGowan and Claire started way too quickly.
And this is a key predictor of coercive control.
Her friends also around this time that whenever she was with him,
she changed,
she was quieter, she was more withdrawn,
she was less bubbly.
She is buying him presents she can't afford.
She's running up debts that she also can't afford.
Anything to keep him happy.
There were occasions when she would message her mum and ask for money.
And the thing that her mother found strange
was the nature of the language used.
When Fiona would text her,
it would be McGowan texting back cos he couldn't spell.
And Fiona would go, "That's not Claire texting me back."
McGowan had gone in there like a vulture,
asset stripping absolutely everything that Claire had.
She was trapped at this point.
She can't throw him out now.
And that's what he would've been looking for all along.
Fiona's anxieties escalated
when she picked Robbie up from his boxing class.
Claire had also kept her son looking smart.
He had a wee vest top on.
He had a pair of joggers, that were filthy,
and a pair of welly boots. A pair of Wellington boots.
And I said, "Where...? Where...? Where's all your gym stuff?
"Where...? Nana's taking your boxing?
He says, "Er, Mummy says they're all in the wash."
Fiona pretended that the class had been cancelled.
There's no way on this earth that I was taking him down to the boxing
dressed the way he was, absolutely appalling,
absolutely appalling. I coulda gret.
This wasn't the only time Fiona noticed a decline
in how Claire cared for Robbie.
Anytime he was coming down to us,
she would always have his bag, and everything was all ironed
and smelling lovely. And his wee teddy bear and everything.
McGowan moved in. It was a carrier bag,
and the stuff was stinking of smoke.
What you want to do as a parent in this situation
is to get on your white horse, be a hero,
run in, rescue the daughter
and take them home with you.
The parents are left in a position where they've actually got to be
using covert tactics
and playing the long game.
And we really thought us drawing back from Claire
would've been enough for her to think, "Oh, this is bad."
And we really did think we'd get through her that way.
But Claire became even more committed to her relationship.
By the beginning of October 2021,
Claire announced on Facebook she was in a relationship,
and it was with Christopher McGowan.
McGowan, on bail at Claire's flat,
received his sentence for the high-speed police chase.
He receives a community payback order
and a curfew that he should remain indoors between 9pm and 7am.
And we know that on the 25th,
social services actually attended the address
to carry out their inquiries.
We don't know if that visit was to speak to Claire
or to speak to Christopher McGowan,
but they were acting on concerns that had been raised to them.
There was no answer.
Claire continued asking her mum for money.
It was always a request for £25.
I found out this £25 that she was always asking for,
that is what a bag of Valium costs.
She's been getting the money from me. That's when I stopped it.
Fiona drove to Claire's flat to confront her.
She came down to the car.
And of course, I'm shouting and saying, "This has got to stop.
"Stop phoning me for money." And then she's going,
"It's OK, Mum, honestly. I swear I'll never ask for money again."
She went, "I love you." I'm saying, "I love you too."
Claire walked back to her flat.
And then she just turned and said,
"Keep your money! I'm no interested in...", blah, blah...
And I looked up at the flat, he's at the window.
And I thought, "That's for his benefit."
And this was the turning point when we knew she was being coerced.
Fiona had no idea that this would be the last time
she would see her daughter alive.
The following day, the 27th of November,
while Robbie had a sleepover with his grandparents,
McGowan and Claire went for a night out in Stirling.
Claire and McGowan had been out in town...
..and having a few drinks.
McGowan was breaching the terms of his curfew
and his bail conditions by being in different parts of Stirling
and being out past a certain time.
They decided to take a taxi from the town centre back to Claire's flat.
At about nine o'clock,
a cab picks up McGowan and Claire.
McGowan was in front with the taxi driver
and Claire was in the back
and the taxi driver was able to say the way he was talking to her
in front of him was quite disturbing.
He was being awful to her,
threatening and abusive.
He was turning around and swearing at her.
He's shouting at her, he's telling her, "Get me the alcohol."
She then goes to a local shop at about ten o'clock.
She goes in, she purchases items,
which to all intents and purposes are items that McGowan wants.
And the CCTV shows her leaving the shop.
They then go back to the home address.
These CCTV images are the last recorded images
of Claire Inglis.
Once inside Claire's flat,
the young woman was alone with her drunk, abusive boyfriend.
It's about five o'clock that morning
when a neighbour finds there is McGowan knocking on the door,
and he basically says, "I think I've killed Claire."
Two neighbours then ran with him across the street.
He was shouting, saying, "She's fallen down the stairs,
"she's fallen down the stairs. Help me. I need help."
And when they eventually got into the house
and ran up the stairs, they found her in her bedroom,
partially clothed and totally beaten.
We see a collection of bruises.
We see bleeding.
We see injuries consistent with being stricken with blunt force,
and we see a lot of accumulated blood.
We also see black eyes,
and we see particular haemorrhages inside the eyes,
which are very consistent with strangulation.
The bloody scene and her injuries
didn't seem to match up with McGowan's story
that Claire had fallen down the stairs.
And when the emergency services arrived,
he told them that Claire had taken an overdose.
One of the neighbours then runs outside to confront him
because he doesn't believe
what he's told him and that she's fallen down the stairs.
Firstly, because she is up the stairs.
And secondly, because she is so badly beaten.
And the two of them then got into an altercation outside the property
while the other neighbour was trying to perform CPR.
Back inside the house,
Claire was not breathing.
As paramedics fought to save her life,
they would soon discover that nothing about her condition was accidental.
It was becoming more and more obvious
that Claire Inglis had been violently attacked
In the early hours of the 28th of November, 2021,
Claire Inglis' parents heard the first reports
that something had happened to their daughter,
five miles away in Stirling.
At 05:10 in the morning,
I got awakened out of sleep
and it was the knock on the door.
It was one of Claire's neighbours.
She just came to the door and just said,
"Look, you need to get up the road. And I said, "Why?"
And she said, "We think Claire's been murdered."
Claire's young son, Robbie,
was staying with his grandparents at the time.
Put Robbie through to a close neighbour next door,
made sure he was safe. And we just said, "Look,
"Mum's poorly. We're just going up to see what's wrong."
Fiona and Ian's first thoughts went to Christopher McGowan,
the boyfriend they suspected of abusing Claire.
We thought, actually, it was gonna be a good thing.
We thought, "He's slapped her. She'll now know how bad he is.
"She'll come back to the family. Everything will be fine."
But as they approached Claire's flat,
it became clear things were far more serious.
I jumped out the car, shouted at the first policeman I seen
at the top of the stairs, "Is she alive?"
He said, "She was five minutes ago."
In fact, Claire's injuries were critical
and paramedics were battling to save her life.
As they checked her airways,
they discovered an obstruction.
There was a wet wipe that was forced down Claire's throat,
which meant that when the medical team were trying
to render assistance to her,
they couldn't get the breathing apparatus in.
She was warm to the touch, so her heart hadn't been stopped for long.
As Christopher McGowan was led away from the scene,
Ian and Fiona came face to face
with their dying daughter's toxic boyfriend.
Then they brought him out, and he walks towards me.
Then getting taken away in the police car
and then we still had to sit for another 20 minutes.
As soon as the paramedic came out the flat
and she was heading down to the car, we just knew.
Watching the ambulance staff leave,
the Inglis realised the fight for their daughter's life was over.
Sadly, at 5:41 that morning,
Claire Inglis is declared dead.
And I said to policeman,
"I want to see my daughter. I'm going up to see my daughter."
He just went down on his knees and just went,
"It's cruel to be kind, but I'm not letting you go up and see her,
"and that's it. I can't let you up to see her."
Despite his claims that it was a tragic accident,
McGowan was arrested on suspicion of Claire's murder.
Investigators began to gather forensic evidence from the scene
and the suspect.
Prior to the interview,
the officers made him aware they were going to be taking swabs.
Did he punch her? Did he touch her?
Did he scrape her?
Evidence from his hands need to be collected
so that we determine whether DNA was transferred between him
and Claire.
McGowan is well aware of the possibility of this transfer of DNA.
So, he uses the blanket he has near him to wipe his hands to try hard
to remove any evidence of Claire on his body.
When questioned, McGowan had little to say
about how Claire had come by her devastating injuries.
During the interview, he said he was only trying to save her life.
But as further witness statements were collected,
they showed the variety of different explanations McGowan had given
to neighbours and paramedics.
He started saying, "Oh,
"she'd fallen downstairs. "She took an overdose of Valium."
Falling down the stairs can be lethal.
However, it does not result in all of your injuries
being concentrated on your skull or most of them.
You would have superficial bruises all over your body
as you roll down the stairs.
And you will also have bleeding throughout your body.
It doesn't result in signs of strangulation
and obviously not involving a wet tissue
being shoved down your throat.
This is a scenario that makes absolute no scientific sense.
There were also signs of an extreme and violent struggle.
Her acrylic nails were found scattered around her body.
And this suggests to me that Claire fought
for her life until the very end.
At one point, McGowan claimed that he couldn't remember what had happened.
The question I'd ask myself, "Which one is it?"
If you can't remember what happened,
then why have you given those other three,
four accounts as to why she may have died? It didn't make sense.
Detectives didn't believe Christopher McGowan's lies
and promptly charged him with Claire's murder.
On the 30th of November,
McGowan appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court,
where he entered no plea,
and was remanded in custody.
In the meantime,
Fiona and Ian had to break the news to Claire's 7-year-old son, Robbie.
We just sat him down, and I just said,
"We've got really bad news." I said, "Mum didn't make it.
"She died at the hospital. She's passed away."
And then he went away, up the room, slammed the door. Broke his heart.
With no straight answers from McGowan,
detectives returned to the crime scene
to build a picture of what may have happened to Claire that night.
Looking at the flat, there was a lot of damage that happened that night.
There was blood that was found on the ceilings, on the walls.
There was blood on the fridge, there was blood on the skirting boards.
There was blood in the living room.
But there was also historical damage there.
There were some puncture holes on the walls,
as well as dents on the refrigerator of the apartment of the flat.
It's really important to understand this don't happen in normal life.
These are signs of aggression and violence.
There were cigarettes stumped out in the carpet.
And it was untidy and unkept.
But from speaking to Claire's parents and her friends,
she was very house proud, kept her house
and her and her son very clean, neat, and tidy.
The next step in the investigation was a post mortem,
which detailed the horrific injuries Claire had suffered
just before her death.
Claire had received 76 individual injuries,
which would imply that it was a sustained and prolonged attack.
There was practically no part of her body that was uninjured.
The pathologist also notes burn marks at her fingertips,
on her nose, her ears.
This is a person who's laying there being tortured by her killer,
being burned as if somebody's saying, "You see you deserve this."
She had small marks on the outer of her skin in different parts
of her body, which they thought might have been by a screwdriver
or something similar.
We have a severity
and a number of injuries that suggest that our killer
was really determined to make sure
that Claire does not walk away alive.
It doesn't take 76 separate injuries
to kill a person who is smaller,
shorter and weaker than you.
This killer was on a mission.
While Ian and Fiona Inglis tried to comprehend
the loss of their daughter,
investigators prepared their case against Christopher McGowan.
It would be two long years
before he would be in the dock and no guarantee...
..he'd be found guilty.
In the early autumn of 2023,
28-year-old Christopher McGowan's trial for the murder
of his girlfriend, Claire Inglis,
began at the High Court in Stirling.
The trial started on the 20th of September.
And it had been an almost two-year lead up to the trial date.
It was the first time the Inglis had seen Christopher McGowan
since the night of their daughter's murder.
I was wanting to jump that glass, and he's just sitting there.
And he did not once show any remorse.
McGowan, ever brazen,
actually wore a designer watch that Claire had given him in the dock.
The prosecution called on the neighbours
who had tried to save Claire's life that night,
as well as the taxi driver who had heard a drunk McGowan abuse
and degrade her.
The character witnesses were called up to give evidence
on how people had heard Magowan treat Claire in day-to-day life,
how he spoke to her.
Evidence was offered to prove
that McGowan was financially coercing Claire.
He pawned a PlayStation that her son had,
as well as a watch that she was given as her 21st birthday present.
We found out all the invoices, all boys' stuff,
designer shoes, designer trousers, everything.
A major part of the prosecution's case against McGowan
were the postmortem results,
which came as a shock to Claire's mother and father.
Fiona and Ian Inglis didn't really know the full extent
of what had happened to Claire prior to going into trial, really.
They had just been told it was head trauma.
Fiona was undergoing chemotherapy during the trial,
and she was at home when evidence of Claire's injuries was presented.
My friend, Maggie, contacted me and she said,
"My heart bleeds for you. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."
And I'm thinking, "What?"
And then I says, "Oh, I'm at home, Maggie."
"Oh, well, don't click on the link."
Fiona's friend had sent her a link to a news article.
And then when I clicked on the link,
and of course the front page was going be,
"Claire Inglis tortured in 76 injuries."
I went into like a panic attack.
And then Robbie said, "What's wrong, Nana?"
And I went in the kitchen, and I was physically sick
because that was the first time me knowing how bad it had been for her.
To know how callous he's been, how sadistic he's been
and the things he's done to her. Nobody deserves that.
I'm not saying anybody deserves it, but Claire certainly never.
Imagine her pain and fighting when she was fighting for her life.
Not long into the trial,
McGowan did something that almost caused proceedings to collapse.
On the third day of the trial,
he turns up in intoxicated.
He isn't even prepared to take the trial seriously.
He came staggering in the door.
And I kinda looked and I thought, "He looks like he's drunk."
McGowan had allegedly taken
at least double the amount of anxiety medication
provided by Barlinnie Prison
but also may have accessed drugs illegally whilst behind bars.
The case was adjourned for that day.
He could have said, "Well, I wasn't in any fit state,
"and I didn't understand what was being said during the trial."
And that would have been even worse.
He probably could have gotten off.
When they were taking him out,
and that's when he turned and he went, "Ah, haha."
Right up to Ian and I's faces.
Once the prosecution had made its case,
it was the defence's turn to present evidence.
They did not deny McGowan HAD played some part
in the injuries Claire had sustained.
McGowan, at the time of the trial, offered the defence of self-defence.
Therefore, we had to assume that a smaller,
more petite person,
Claire, was attacking him,
and he felt threatened enough
to have to defend himself by killing her.
He has no defence injuries whatsoever,
that would suggest that Claire tried to even attack him.
But ahead of closing speeches,
the defence dropped the theory of self-defence
and instead focused on McGowan's state of mind.
McGowan decides that he's going to put forward a scenario as to why
he turned to drink and drugs.
"I had to resort to alcohol
"and drugs to cope with the abuse in my childhood."
He's trying to say, again,
"None of this is MY fault."
After a week-long trial,
it took the jury just two hours to find Christopher McGowan guilty
of murdering Claire Inglis.
I shudder to imagine what Claire's last minutes were like.
It was beyond sadistic.
McGowan has shown not a flutter of emotion,
not a hint of distress,
not a shadow of remorse.
It is a truly horrifying story.
On the 25th of October, 2023,
McGovern was sentenced to life imprisonment
with a minimum term of 23 years imprisonment.
He actually shuddered. He shook and shuddered. And I thought, "Good.
"It's hitting you now that you're going away for a long time."
With no admission of guilt from McGowan,
Claire's parents have been left wondering
why he killed their daughter in such a brutal
and relentless attack.
I do honestly believe that Claire was gonna fling him out.
And this is why he's reacted.
Looking at Christopher McGowan in the whole,
an early career criminal who uses violence like its punctuation.
He then kills somebody.
He then tries to blame that person.
He's not gonna improve in prison.
He is going to get WORSE in prison.
I don't think he's gonna come out reformed.
He's gonna be in there till he dies. That's what we're hoping.
And hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later.
A vicious man had been removed from the streets,
but for Claire's family,
many questions are still unanswered.
Claire's family have been seeking an independent review
into the circumstances as to how McGowan was allowed to...
be living at Claire's address.
Claire's case raises a lot of questions.
There are questions about how different public systems communicate
with one another. There are questions around people
with lengthy criminal histories being released on bail.
There's a whole host of questions they feel need to be answered.
And all I'm wanting is an independent inquiry to find out
because I've got everything back from the social
and it doesn't sit with me right.
Four months after the trial,
it was revealed that social services had raised a concern,
that McGowan was living with Claire, six weeks before her murder.
From my perspective as an SIO or even as a dad,
put it simple as that,
I would be frustrated that the powers that be had an opportunity
to do a effective risk assessment
as to whether or not an individual
should be remaining with someone else who was vulnerable,
and everything was there for them to see
that that was not the right decision to be made.
We just don't want another family going through
even an ounce of what we've been through.
If I think I could even just save one woman for going through, or man
for going through what we have gone through, it's just...
It would make it all worthwhile.
The main reform that they're calling for
is for a review of bail conditions
and for anyone with any sort of violence conviction
to not be placed in the home of a child or a vulnerable person.
They're also in favour of a domestic abuse register,
so anyone who has any kind of domestic conviction
would go on a domestic abuse register.
As they continue their campaign for justice,
Ian and Fiona still wish they could have done more
to prevent Claire's tragic murder.
It's hard to accept as well, getting told
that I did the exact thing that he wanted.
He wanted to break the family away from her
so he could just get her to herself.
And if I had did the opposite and just went in the house
and just grabbed him, flung him outta the house,
it could have been a totally different scenario,
but I thought I was doing the right thing.
We've got a memorial bench in Riverside for her as well,
facing up to the Wallace Monument because we had picnics there,
so I just felt it was quite fitting,
have it in Riverside, that you can sit in the bench
and it's got the cherry blossom on each side.
It's beautiful. So, we can go down there
and get a wee bit a release, just thinking she's at peace.
The love with which Claire's family remember her
is in stark contrast to the impression left by her murderer.
It takes a special kind of person,
distorted personality,
deranged person, to deliver such a sustainable,
continuous tortures attack to a smaller person
whose last few weeks and months in life were to help you.
This person is a vicious,
determined, evil killer.
A violent repeat offender,
who was no stranger to the courts or the prison system.
McGowan's final horrific act of violence against Claire Inglis
revealed his true sadistic nature.
He took the life of an innocent mother
and left her young child an orphan.
There is no doubt that Christopher McGowan
is one of Britain's most evil killers.
(GRAND MUSIC)
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