Pacteau has 14 days to lodge appeal against 23-year sentence

Alexander Pacteau has 14 days within which to begin the process of appealing his 23-year sentence for the murder of Karen Buckley in Glasgow earlier this year.

Pacteau (21) from Bearsden in Glasgow can only appeal against sentence and not against conviction because he pleaded guilty to the murder of the 24-year-old from Mourneabbey in Co Cork when he first appeared in the High Court in August.

On Tuesday, sentencing judge, Lady Rae imposed the mandatory life sentence on Pacteau for the killing with a stipulation that he serve at least 23 years before he can apply to the Parole Board for release.

Lady Rae described Pacteau as “callous and calculating” and said his attempts to destroy Ms Buckley’s body by soaking her remains in bath and barrel of caustic soda after killing her had only added the Buckley family’s grief and trauma.

According to the Scottish Courts Service, Pacteau has 14 days from Tuesday to lodge a note of appeal against severity of sentence with an appeal, if it is made, likely to take several months before it goes to hearing.

The note of appeal must set out the grounds on which the applicant believes the sentence is excessive and they must then seek leave to appeal from a single judge of the High Court and, if that is refused, they can apply to a two judge sitting of the High Court for leave to appeal.

If leave to appeal is granted, the applicant can then appeal the severity of sentence to a two judge sitting of the Court of Criminal Appeal and it is likely that such a hearing would take a number of weeks before it can be heard.

Meanwhile, the Crown Prosecution Service has defended its decision to withdraw a secondary charge against Pacteau of attempting to defeat the ends of a justice.

In her sentencing statement, Lady Rae commented on the decision by the Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland QC not to proceed with the secondary charge.

She noted defence counsel, John Scullion QC had submitted that she should give no regard whatsoever to anything which occurred after the death as it was outside the scope of the indictment. She said she found that extraordinary given the defence had agreed to the facts in the narrative.

“I regret that the Crown, in withdrawing charge two, has to some extent tied my hands in relation to this sentence,” said Lady Rae, adding that she had never come across a case where a judge had been invited to ignore significant material in an agreed narrative, deliberately put before the court.

“After reflecting on submissions, I have come to the view that I cannot ignore your conduct after the killing. It has always been the position that what an accused does after a crime to conceal what he did may be an aggravating factor,” she told Pacteau as she imposed the 23 years term.

Questioned about Lady Rae’s comments, a spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said the case had been handled in an expeditious manner which secured Pacteau’s conviction.

“Alexander Pacteau pled guilty to the most serious of criminal charges, that of murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence. In securing the guilty plea, the Crown guaranteed his conviction at the earliest opportunity,” said the spokesman.

“The Lord Advocate ensured all of Pacteau’s relevant actions were laid before the court in a detailed narrative allowing the judge to pass what she considered to be the appropriate sentence, taking into account all of these actions as aggravating factors.”