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Britain's Most Evil Killers S09E10 (Dec 10 2024)
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00:00.
00:13In the early hours of a cold autumn morning in 2021,
00:19the neighbors of young mother Claire Ingalls
00:22were awoken by her boyfriend.
00:25He was shouting, saying, she's fallen down the stairs.
00:28She's fallen down the stairs.
00:29Help me, I need help.
00:31The good Samaritans found Claire almost lifeless in her home.
00:36The neighbors rush in, and they find
00:38Claire's partially clothed body in the bedroom.
00:42She's obviously incredibly injured.
00:45Claire's parents were also woken that morning
00:48to learn of an unfolding nightmare.
00:51I shouted at the first policeman I seen at the top of the stairs.
00:54Is she alive?
00:55He said, she was, five minutes ago.
00:58Claire's boyfriend was 26-year-old Christopher McGowan,
01:01and his version of events just didn't add up.
01:05Falling down the stairs does not result in all of your injuries
01:08being concentrated on your skull.
01:11It doesn't resolve in signs of strangulation.
01:14Christopher McGowan was lying, and he would eventually be exposed
01:18as one of Britain's most evil killers.
01:21and he would eventually be exposed to the two-thirds who were murdered.
01:25And the balance of all of these Americans
01:27were dead in all of their lives.
01:28They also played as the hundreds of prisoners.
01:29They were dead in all the rest of their lives.
01:31Despite a notorious and well-known history of criminality,
01:51in November 2021, Christopher McGowan was released from prison
01:57and placed in the home of his girlfriend, 28-year-old,
02:01Claire Ingalls.
02:03She lives on her own.
02:04She's vulnerable.
02:05She has a young child.
02:06McGowan is known to be taking drink and drugs.
02:10He's got convictions for domestic violence.
02:1426-year-old McGowan had convinced the Scottish court
02:18that the relationship would help him change for the better.
02:22I am absolutely astonished that this man was bailed
02:28to this young woman's address.
02:31They'd only been in a relationship for a number of weeks,
02:36and this has got domestic abuse written all over it.
02:42In the aftermath of her murder, Claire's family were left
02:45wondering why a violent thug was bailed to their daughter's home.
02:51It's just a horrible thought to think, you know,
02:53if things had maybe been done right, she would still be here.
02:56And that's hard to accept.
02:58We just don't want another family going through even announcing what we've gone through.
03:13This killer's story begins in the small city of Stirling in central Scotland.
03:19Christopher McGowan was born on the 18th of May, 1995.
03:23I don't think he was maybe given the best chance in life.
03:28He started offending really young.
03:30He had his first conviction at age 14.
03:34And he would commit any kind of crime, somebody who you might describe as absolutely lawless.
03:42There are three assaults, one incident of carrying a knife, one incident of dealing heroin.
03:51There is also a conviction, which is a breach of the peace with a domestic aggravation.
03:56So quite a lengthy and varied criminal history.
04:04In 2011, 16-year-old McGowan started dating a 14-year-old girl.
04:13They would eventually move in together.
04:17But it was a far from happy home.
04:20McGowan's girlfriend twice reported him to the police for assault.
04:26McGowan had quite a few convictions, one of which was a domestic assault on his girlfriend.
04:31We also know that an allegation had been made that he had actually kicked his girlfriend on another occasion.
04:37But the police decided that there was insufficient evidence at that time for him to be charged.
04:42Despite all this, the couple had a child together.
04:46But fatherhood did nothing to stop McGowan's destructive behavior.
04:52So McGowan is misusing Valium, misusing alcohol, drinking excessive amounts.
04:58McGowan's unstable behavior led to him receiving 39 convictions for a wide range of offenses.
05:12We have domestic assaults, robbery, attacking strangers for money.
05:17But also attacking a police officer with a knife.
05:23So this guy does not care.
05:26He uses violence like his first language.
05:33He was known locally as Kiki McGowan, that was his nickname.
05:37He had a reputation in the town as someone who would cause bother, cause disruption.
05:43Just a few streets away from Christopher McGowan lived Claire Ingalls, who was also born and bred in Stirling.
05:58She was just such a good, a good toddler.
06:02She was a girly girl.
06:04She was always singing, dancing, just loved her gran and granddad.
06:11And then Emma came along and, you know, she was just a brilliant wee sister.
06:14She just, you know, she just loved her.
06:18From everyone that I've spoke to during my time covering this case,
06:24they've all described Claire as fun and bubbly.
06:29They said, you know, she didn't have a bad bone in her body.
06:32She would do anything for anyone.
06:36She went off to study child minding at university.
06:40To all intents and purposes, a wonderful young woman.
06:43Claire had been in a loving relationship.
06:52And in 2014, when she was 20, she'd given birth to a baby son.
06:58Claire's life was basically for Robby when Robby had her act.
07:00Oh, aye. It was the making of her. It really was.
07:03And everybody you speak to in Stirling, she had him immaculate.
07:06She just, her whole life was mapped around Robby.
07:09But in 2017, tragedy struck the young family.
07:16When Claire's son was quite small,
07:18his dad passed away in some kind of road traffic accident.
07:25Claire and Robby were left alone and had to make a new life for themselves,
07:30with help from Claire's parents.
07:34Basically, it was the three of us.
07:36It was, I was, you know, like her best friend.
07:39So she'd be down for a tea, maybe Tuesday, Thursday.
07:43Then Ian would come in on Friday.
07:44I would get him sorted for the weekend,
07:46and I'd go up there and come back down on Sunday night.
07:50She'd be going to her bed, and I'd be right on my way down the road.
07:56Claire also had the support of her friends,
07:59friends, one of whom had just had a second child with her partner.
08:05Christopher McGowan.
08:08She went, they've had a wee baby, and I've got a partial coming,
08:10and I'm going to go over.
08:11And this beautiful wee suit came, the wee sleep suit, the beautiful bag and the card,
08:17and away she went.
08:19So she came back and she went, oh, she says, I don't know why she's with him.
08:23He's so bad to her.
08:24She could do a lot better.
08:25So that was the very first of him ever getting mentioned in Claire's life.
08:31Despite his growing family, McGowan's run-ins with the law were far from over.
08:39In 2019, he was in trouble yet again.
08:42McGowan is involved in a dangerous driving incident where police are chasing him.
08:53McGowan was charged and bailed.
08:56Early in 2020, he was arrested for a violent, unprovoked attack.
09:02He had assaulted and beat up a man and stole his wallet.
09:07Once again, McGowan was bailed.
09:09By August 2021, McGowan's relationship with his former partner was over,
09:17and he had his eye on someone new.
09:20Claire encounters Christopher McGowan in the street in Stirling in Scotland,
09:25where they live, and he yells at her across the street.
09:30She went, I was coming up the road with Robbie from the school,
09:34and Christopher McGowan shouted on me.
09:36McGowan had been involved in an incident that had resulted in him being injured.
09:42She says, oh, he's done something to his leg.
09:45So he had this leg all strapped up, and then she says, I was just mortified in front of Robbie.
09:50Eh, I couldn't wait to get away from him. He's just a bad one.
09:54And that's because she was familiar with who he was and some of the things that he'd done.
10:00Claire and her mum spoke almost every day.
10:09And soon Fiona received a phone call that she would never forget.
10:13She went, I've actually got some Italian. I'm in a relationship now. So I'm saying, who?
10:19And she went, eh, Christopher McGowan. And I went, Kiki McGowan? And she went, yeah,
10:25and I went, oh, be quiet. The way Claire was, she had a wicked sense of humour. We both did.
10:31And then she went, Mum, I'm serious. I swear on Robbie's life I'm in a relationship. And Ian just said,
10:36that's it then. That's it. Just hang up the phone. If that's who she wants as a father figure for Robbie,
10:42that's it.
10:48Claire's parents were horrified their daughter was dating a man with such a violent criminal history.
10:56It was just devastating. Absolutely devastating.
11:00She couldn't understand how that happened so quickly. But I think that McGowan had spotted Claire, targeted Claire.
11:13She was not the type of person that you'd have thought that would have wanted to have been in
11:17a relationship with McGowan. They were chalk and cheese.
11:20Fiona and Ian's concerns were valid, but they had no idea the relationship would have such a tragic
11:30outcome. In just a few months, Claire Ingalls would be lying on the floor of her own home,
11:38fighting for her life.
11:39By the late summer of 2021, 28-year-old Claire Ingalls had begun a relationship with serial offender
11:56Christopher McGowan in Stirling, Scotland.
12:00In early September, he was recalled to jail for breaching his bail conditions. Despite this,
12:11Claire remained loyal to her new partner.
12:22Claire's devotion to Christopher McGowan was so great that she visited him in jail.
12:27On the 19th of September, 26-year-old McGowan was back in court and pled guilty to a 2019
12:37dangerous driving charge, as well as a breach of bail conditions. With sentencing deferred for a month,
12:45McGowan used Claire as an excuse to get himself released from jail.
12:50He's got this relationship, very, very new relationship with Claire, but he's already
13:00using that, leveraging that to say, look, I've got somewhere to go.
13:06She had a huge heart and I think she thought she could change him. You know, I'll bring him in,
13:11he's homeless, and I'll make him part of my wee family. She was just looking for love.
13:15McGowan's lawyer told the court he was motivated to reduce his drinking and drug taking.
13:23They said that McGowan was likely to become a reformed character,
13:28not wanting to take drugs on volume because he was in a stable relationship with Claire.
13:33But the reality of things is they don't normally work like that.
13:36Everything that he's done since he was 14 till he is 28, 14 years,
13:43is she really going to be the person that we can say is going to change his character,
13:48the way he lived his life? Highly unlikely.
13:52No arguments were put forward to oppose his release, and McGowan was bailed to Claire's address.
13:59The couple had been in a relationship for barely a month.
14:03What on earth were they thinking when they bailed him to that address with a young,
14:12vulnerable mum, with a young child, this seasoned career criminal with a violent past?
14:21She may not have known it, but Claire was sharing her home with a ticking time bomb.
14:26Christopher McGowan was a violent man trying to kick a drug habit.
14:32When a person who is dependent on two substances promises to stay away from the substances,
14:40the body would have gone into a severe withdrawal syndrome.
14:44We would have experienced agitation, anxiety, hallucinations, paranoia.
14:50Nobody around him would be safe.
14:52There were growing signs that Claire had entered a toxic partnership.
15:01The relationship with McGowan and Claire started way too quickly,
15:05and this is a key predictor of coercive control.
15:09Her friends also said around this time was that whenever she was with him, she changed.
15:14She was quieter, she was more withdrawn, she was less bubbly.
15:19She is buying him presents she can't afford.
15:23She's running up debts that she also can't afford.
15:27Anything to keep him happy.
15:29There were occasions when she would message her mum and ask for money,
15:34and the thing that her mother found strange was the nature of the language used.
15:38When Fiona would text her, it would be McGowan texting back because he couldn't spell,
15:46and Fiona would go, that's not Claire, texting me back.
15:49McGowan had gone in there like a vulture, asset stripping absolutely everything that Claire had.
15:57She was trapped at this point. She can't throw him out now,
16:01and that's what he would have been looking for all along.
16:06Fiona's anxieties escalated when she picked Robbie up from his boxing class.
16:12Claire had always kept her son looking smart.
16:17He had a wee vest top on, he had a pair of joggers that were filthy,
16:22and a pair of welly boots, a pair of wellington boots.
16:25And I said, where's all your gym stuff? You know, Nana's taking your boxing.
16:31He says, Mummy says they're all in the wash.
16:34Fiona pretended that the class had been cancelled.
16:38There's no way on this earth that I was taking him down to the boxing,
16:42dressed the way he was. Absolutely appalling, absolutely appalling. I could agree.
16:48This wasn't the only time Fiona noticed a decline in how Claire cared for Robbie.
16:54Any time he was coming down to us, she would always have his bag,
16:58and everything was all ironed and smelling lovely, and his wee teddy bear and everything.
17:03McGowan moved in, it was a carrier bag, and the stuff was stinking as smoke.
17:09What you want to do as a parent in this situation is to get on your white horse,
17:15be a hero, run in, rescue the daughter, and take them home with you.
17:20The parents are left in a position where they've actually got to be using covert tactics and
17:28playing the long game.
17:29And we really thought us drawing back for Claire would have been enough for her to think,
17:35oh, this is bad. And we really did think we'd get through to her that way.
17:41But Claire became even more committed to her relationship.
17:46By the beginning of October 2021, Claire announced on Facebook she was in a relationship,
17:52and it was with Christopher McGowan.
17:54McGowan, on bail at Claire's flat, received his sentence for the high-speed police chase.
18:02He received a community payback order and a curfew that he should remain indoors between 9pm and 7am.
18:12And we know that on the 25th, social services actually attended the address to carry out their enquiries.
18:17We don't know if that visit was to speak to Claire or to speak to Christopher McGowan,
18:25but they were acting on concerns that had been raised to them.
18:33There was no answer.
18:36Claire continued asking her mum for money.
18:40It was always a request for 25 pounds.
18:43I found out this 25 pound that she was always asking for, that is what a bag of Valium costs.
18:49So she's obviously been getting the money from me, and that's when I stopped it.
18:53Fiona drove to Claire's flat to confront her.
18:58She came down to the car, and of course I'm shouting at her and saying,
19:01this has got to stop. Stop phoning me for money.
19:04And then she's going, it's okay, Mum. Honestly, I swear, I'll never ask for money again.
19:08And she went, I love you. And I'm saying, I love you too.
19:10Claire walked back to her flat.
19:15And then she just turned and said, keep your money, I'm not interested, and blah, blah.
19:19And when I looked up at the flat, he's at the window, and I thought, that's for his benefit.
19:23And this was the turning point when we knew she was being coerced.
19:33Fiona had no idea that this would be the last time she would see her daughter alive.
19:40The following day, the 27th of November, while Robbie had a sleepover with his grandparents,
19:50McGowan and Claire went for a night out in Stirling.
19:55Claire and McGowan had been out in town and having a few drinks.
20:01McGowan was breaching the terms of his curfew and his bail conditions by being in different
20:06parts of Stirling and being out past a certain time.
20:09They decided to take a taxi from the town centre back to Claire's flat.
20:18At about nine o'clock, a cab picks up McGowan and Claire.
20:22McGowan was in front with the taxi driver and Claire was in the back.
20:27And the taxi driver was able to see the way he was talking to her in front of him was quite disturbing.
20:32He was being awful to her, threatening and abusive.
20:38He was turning round and swearing at her.
20:41He was shouting at her. He was telling her, get me the alcohol.
20:46She then goes to a local shop at about 10 o'clock.
20:51She goes in, she purchases items, which to all intents and purposes are items that McGowan wants.
20:57And the CCTV shows her leaving the shop. They then go back to the home address.
21:05These CCTV images are the last recorded images of Claire Ingalls.
21:15Once inside Claire's flat, the young woman was alone with her drunk, abusive boyfriend.
21:21It's about five o'clock that morning when a neighbour finds that
21:27there is McGowan knocking on the door and he basically says, I think I've killed Claire.
21:33Two neighbours then ran with him across the street.
21:37He was shouting, saying, she's fallen down the stairs.
21:39She's fallen down the stairs.
21:41Help me. I need help.
21:44And when they eventually got into the house and ran up the stairs,
21:48they found her in her bedroom, partially closed and totally beaten.
21:53We see a collection of bruises. We see bleeding. We see injuries consistent with being stricken,
22:04with blunt force, and we see a lot of accumulated blood. We also see black eyes and we see particular
22:12hemorrhages inside the eyes, which are very consistent with strangulation.
22:18The bloody scene and her injuries didn't seem to match up with McGowan's story that Claire had fallen
22:25down the stairs. And when the emergency services arrived, he told them that Claire had taken an overdose.
22:33One of the neighbours then runs outside to confront him because he doesn't believe what he's told him
22:40and that she's fallen down the stairs. Firstly, because she is up the stairs. And secondly,
22:45because she is so badly beaten. And the two of them then got into an altercation outside the property,
22:52while the other neighbour was trying to perform CPR.
22:56Back inside the house, Claire was not breathing. As paramedics fought to save her life,
23:02they would soon discover that nothing about her condition was accidental. It was becoming more and
23:09more obvious that Claire Ingalls had been violently attacked.
23:24In the early hours of the 28th of November 2021, Claire Ingalls' parents heard the first reports
23:33that something had happened to their daughter five miles away in Stirling.
23:46At ten past five in the morning, I got awakened out of sleep and it was the knock on the door.
23:53It was one of Claire's neighbours.
23:55She just came to the door and just said, look, you need to get up the road. And I said, why?
24:00And she said, we think Claire's been murdered.
24:04Claire's young son, Robbie, was staying with his grandparents at the time.
24:08We put Robbie through to our close neighbour next door,
24:12and made sure he was safe and we just said, look, mum's poorly,
24:15we're just going up to see what's wrong.
24:18Fiona and Ian's first thoughts went to Christopher McGowan,
24:22the boyfriend they suspected of abusing Claire.
24:26We thought actually it was going to be a good thing. We thought he slapped her,
24:30she'll now know how bad he is, she'll come back to the family, everything will be fine.
24:36But as they approached Claire's flat, it became clear things were far more serious.
24:42I jumped out of the car, shouted at the first policeman I seen at the top of the stairs,
24:47is she alive? He said, she was five minutes ago.
24:52In fact, Claire's injuries were critical, and palomedics were battling to save her life.
24:59As they checked her airways, they discovered an obstruction.
25:04There was a wet wipe that was forced down, uh, Claire's throat,
25:10which meant that when the medical team were trying to render assistance to her,
25:14they couldn't get the breathing apparatus in.
25:15She was warm to the touch, so her heart hadn't been stopped for long.
25:22As Christopher McGowan was led away from the scene, Ian and Fiona came face to face
25:28with their dying daughter's toxic boyfriend.
25:31Then they brought him out, and he walks towards me.
25:35Then getting taken away in the police cab, and then we still had to sit for another 20 minutes.
25:40As soon as the paramedic came out of the flat and she was heading down to the car,
25:45we just knew it.
25:46Watching the ambulance staff leave, the Ingalls realised the fight for their daughter's life was over.
26:00Sadly, at 5.41 that morning, Claire Inglis is declared dead.
26:04And I said to the policeman, I want to see my daughter.
26:09I'm going up to see my daughter.
26:11It just went down on his knees and just went,
26:14it's cruel to be kind, but I'm not letting you go up and see her.
26:17And that's it. I can't let you up and see her.
26:25Despite his claims that it was a tragic accident,
26:28McGowan was arrested on suspicion of Claire's murder.
26:33Investigators began to gather forensic evidence from the scene and the suspect.
26:42Prior to the interview, the officers made him aware that they were going to be taking swabs.
26:47Did he punch her? Did he touch her? Did he scrape her?
26:51Evidence from his hands need to be collected so that we determine whether DNA was transferred
26:57between him and Claire.
26:58McGowan is well aware of the possibility of this transfer of DNA, so he uses the blanket he has
27:07near him to wipe his hands, to try hard to remove any evidence of Claire on his body.
27:14When questioned, McGowan had little to say about how Claire had come by her devastating injuries.
27:22During the interview, he said he was only trying to save his girlfriend's life.
27:26But as further witness statements were collected,
27:30they showed the variety of different explanations McGowan had given to neighbours and paramedics.
27:36He started saying, oh, she'd fallen downstairs. She took an overdose of Valium.
27:44Falling down the stairs can be lethal. However, it does not result in all of your injuries being
27:51concentrated on your skull or most of them. You would have superficial bruises all over your body
27:58as you roll down the stairs and you will also have bleeding throughout your body. It doesn't resolve
28:04in signs of strangulation and obviously not involving a wet tissue being shoved down your throat.
28:12This is a scenario that makes absolutely no scientific sense.
28:17There were also signs of an extreme and violent struggle.
28:22Her acrylic nails were found scattered around her body and this suggests to me that Claire
28:28fought for her life until the very end.
28:32At one point, McGowan claimed that he couldn't remember what had happened.
28:38The question I'd ask myself, which one is it?
28:41If you can't remember what happened, then why have you given those other three,
28:44four accounts as to why she may have died? It just didn't make sense.
28:52Detectives didn't believe Christopher McGowan's lies and promptly charged him with Claire's murder.
28:59On the 30th of November, McGowan appeared at Falkirk Sheriff's Court,
29:04where he entered no plea and was remanded in custody.
29:11In the meantime, Fiona and Ian had to break the news to Claire's seven-year-old son, Robbie.
29:18We just sat him down and I just said, we've got really bad news.
29:22I said, Mum, Mum didn't make it. You know, she died at the hospital. She's passed away.
29:27And then he went away up the room, slammed the door and he just broke his hat.
29:31With no straight answers from McGowan, detectives returned to the crime scene to build a picture of what may have happened to Claire that night.
29:45Looking at the flat, there was a lot of damage that happened that night.
29:49There was blood that was found on the ceilings, on the walls.
29:54There was blood on the fridge. There was blood on the skirting boards. There was blood in the living room.
29:59But there was also historical damage there. There were some puncture holes on the walls,
30:05as well as dents on the refrigerator of the apartment, of the flat.
30:10It's really important to understand this don't happen in normal life. These are signs of aggression and violence.
30:16There were cigarettes stumped out on the carpet, and it was untidy and unkept. But from speaking to Claire's parents and her friends,
30:26she was very house-proud, kept her house and her and her son very clean, neat and tidy.
30:35The next step in the investigation was a post-mortem, which detailed the horrific injuries Claire had suffered just before her death.
30:44Claire had received 76 individual injuries, which would imply that it was a sustained and prolonged attack.
30:54There was practically no part of her body that was uninjured.
31:01The pathologist also notes burn marks at her fingertips, on her nose, her ears.
31:08This is a person who's laying there, being tortured by her killer, being burned, as if somebody's saying,
31:15you see, you deserve this.
31:19She had small marks on the outer of her skin and different parts of her body,
31:23which they thought might have been caused by a screwdriver or something similar.
31:27We have a severity and a number of injuries that suggest that our killer was really determined
31:37to make sure that Claire does not walk away alive. It doesn't take 76 separate injuries to kill
31:47a person who is smaller, shorter, and weaker than you. This killer was on a mission.
31:53While Ian and Fiona Ingalls tried to comprehend the loss of their daughter, investigators prepared
32:01their case against Christopher McGowan. It would be two long years before he would be in the dock,
32:09and no guarantee he'd be found guilty.
32:25In the early autumn of 2023, 28-year-old Christopher McGowan's trial for the murder of his girlfriend,
32:33Claire Ingalls, began at the High Court in Stirling.
32:39The trial started on the 20th of September, and it had been an almost two-year lead-up to the trial date.
32:54It was the first time the Ingalls had seen Christopher McGowan since the night of their daughter's murder.
33:01I was going to jump that glass and, you know, and he's just sitting there, and he did not once show any remorse.
33:10McGowan, ever brazen, actually wore a designer watch that Claire had given him in the dock.
33:21The prosecution called on the neighbours who'd tried to save Claire's life that night,
33:27as well as the taxi driver who'd heard a drunk McGowan abuse and degrade her.
33:33The character witnesses who were called up to give evidence on how people had heard McGowan treat
33:40Claire in day-to-day life, how he spoke to her.
33:44Evidence was offered to prove that McGowan was financially coercing Claire.
33:50He pawned the PlayStation that her son had, as well as a watch that she was given as her 21st birthday present.
34:00We found out all the invoices that old boy stuff, you know, designer shoes, designer trouser, everything.
34:11A major part of the prosecution's case against McGowan were the post-mortem results,
34:17which came as a shock to Claire's mother and father.
34:23Fiona and Ian Ingalls didn't really know the full extent of what had happened to Claire prior to going into trial.
34:30Really, they had just been told it was head trauma.
34:35Fiona was undergoing chemotherapy during the trial and she was at home when evidence of Claire's injuries was presented.
34:44My friend Maggie contacted me and she said,
34:47my heart bleeds for you, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.
34:50And I'm thinking, what?
34:52And then I said, oh, I'm at home, Maggie.
34:54And she went, oh, well, don't click on the link.
34:56Fiona's friend had sent her a link to a news article.
35:00And then when I clicked on the link, and of course the front page was going to be,
35:04Claire Ingalls tortured and 76 injuries.
35:08I went into here like I'd taken a panic attack and then Robbie said, what's wrong, Nana?
35:11And I went into the kitchen and, you know, I was physically sick.
35:14Because that was the first of me knowing how bad it had been for her.
35:19To know how callous he's been, how sadistic he's been and the things he's done to her.
35:28And nobody deserves it.
35:29I'm not saying anybody deserves it, but Claire certainly never.
35:32Imagine her pain and fighting she was doing when she was fighting for her life.
35:43Not long into the trial, McGowan did something that almost caused proceedings to collapse.
35:50On the third day of the trial, he turns up intoxicated.
35:54He isn't even prepared to take the trial seriously.
35:58He came staggering in the door, and I kind of looked and I thought, he looks like he's drunk.
36:07McGowan had allegedly taken at least double the amount of anxiety medication provided by Barlinny
36:15Prison, but also may have accessed drugs illegally whilst behind bars.
36:20The case was adjourned for that day. He could have said, well, I wasn't in any fit state,
36:26and I didn't understand what was being said during the trial, and that would have been even worse.
36:31You know, he probably could have gotten off.
36:34When they were taking him out, and that's when he turned and he went, ah, ha, ha, right up to you in his faces.
36:42Once the prosecution had made its case, it was the defense's turn to present evidence.
36:48They did not deny McGowan had played some part in the injuries Claire had sustained.
36:56McGowan, at the time of the trial, offered the defense of self-defense.
37:01Therefore, we had to assume that a smaller, more petite person, Claire, was attacking him,
37:10and he felt threatened enough to have to defend himself by killing her.
37:15He has no defense injuries whatsoever that would suggest that Claire tried to even attack him.
37:24But ahead of closing speeches, the defense dropped the theory of self-defense,
37:30and instead focused on McGowan's state of mind.
37:33McGowan decides that he's going to put forward a scenario as to why he turned to drink and drugs.
37:40I had to resort to alcohol and drugs to cope with the abuse in my childhood.
37:47He's trying to say, again, none of this is my fault.
37:53After a week-long trial, it took the jury just two hours to find Christopher McGowan guilty of murdering Claire Ingalls.
38:02I shudder to imagine what Claire's last minutes were like. It was beyond sadistic.
38:11McGowan has shown not a flutter of emotion, not a hint of distress, not a shadow of remorse.
38:18It is a truly horrifying story.
38:23On the 25th of October 2023, McGowan was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 23 years imprisonment.
38:33They actually shuddered. They actually shook and shuddered.
38:36And I thought, good, it's actually hitting you now that you're going away for a long time.
38:39With 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.
38:51I do honestly believe that Claire was going to fling him out, and this is why he's reacting.
38:56Looking at Christopher McGowan in the hole, an early career criminal who uses violence like it's punctuation.
39:08He then kills somebody. He then tries to blame that person.
39:13He's not going to improve in prison. He is going to get worse in prison.
39:21I don't think he's going to come out reformed. He's going to be a nerd till he dies.
39:25That's what we're hoping, and hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later.
39:29A vicious man had been removed from the streets.
39:33But for Claire's family, many questions are still unanswered.
39:40Claire's family have been seeking an independent review into the circumstances as to how
39:46McGowan was allowed to be living at Claire's address.
39:51Claire's case raises a lot of questions.
39:54There are questions about how different public systems communicate with one another.
39:58There are questions around people with lengthy criminal histories being released on bail.
40:05There's a whole host of questions they feel need to be answered.
40:09Four months after the trial, it was revealed that social services had raised a concern that
40:28McGowan was living with Claire six weeks before her murder.
40:32From my perspective as an SIO, or even as a dad, put it as simple as that, I would be frustrated that the powers that be had an opportunity to
40:47do an effective risk assessment as to whether or not an individual should be remaining with someone else who was vulnerable.
40:56And everything was there for them to see that that was not the right decision to be made.
41:01We just don't want another family going through even announcing what we've gone through.
41:07If I think I could even just save one woman for going through, or a man for going through what we have gone through, it's just, it would make it all worthwhile.
41:17The main reform that they're calling for is for a review of bail conditions and for anyone with any sort of violent conviction to not be placed in the home of a child or a vulnerable person.
41:35They're also in favour of a domestic abuse register.
41:39So anyone who has any kind of domestic conviction would go on a domestic abuse register.
41:44As they continue their campaign for justice, Ian and Fiona still wish they could have done more to prevent Claire's tragic murder.
41:56It's hard to accept as well, getting told that I did the exact thing that he wanted.
42:03He wanted to break the family away from him so he could just get her to her cell.
42:07And if I did the opposite and just went in the house and just grabbed them along the way of the house,
42:12it could have been a total different scenario, but I thought I was doing the right thing.
42:17We've got a memorial bench in Riverside for her as well, facing up to the Wallace Monument,
42:22because we had picnics there, so I just felt it was quite fitting, you know, have it in Riverside that,
42:28you know, you can sit on the bench and it's got the cherry blossom and each side is beautiful.
42:33So we can go down there and get a wee bit of release, just thinking, you know, she's at peace.
42:41The love with which Claire's family remember her is in stark contrast to the impression left by her murderer.
42:48It takes a special kind of person, distorted personality, deranged person, to deliver such a sustainable, continuous,
43:00torturous attack to a smaller person whose last few weeks and months in life were to help you.
43:08This person is a vicious, determined, evil killer.
43:13A violent repeat offender who was no stranger to the courts or the prison system.
43:23McGowan's final horrific act of violence against Claire Ingalls revealed his true sadistic nature.
43:31He took the life of an innocent mother and left her young child an orphan.
43:36There is no doubt that Christopher McGowan is one of Britain's most evil killers.
44:07The hero of the world has made it to be more sort of like a collectible chaos.
44:14The hero of the world has been a private person in the entire world.
44:19The hero of the world has been a graphic or both of the people's most evil killers.
44:27The hero of the world has been a black dude's most evil killer.
44:32You