Justice caught up with evil murderers
Paedophiles Charles O’neill and William Lauchlan befriended vulnerable mum Allison Mcgarrigle when she moved to Rothesay after splitting from her husband.
But they viciously turned on her when she threatened to expose their abuse of a young boy to police.
The mother-ofthree had been missing for almost a year when Colin Higgins revealed the truth to detectives in 1998.
Prosecutors doubted they could successfully prosecute the pair for murder.
Instead they decided to proceed against O’neill and Lauchlan immediately for a horrific catalogue of abuse over a five year period, involving five victims between the ages of nine and 15.
They pled guilty to 31 charges with O’neill jailed for eight years and Lauchlan for six.
But with no body, police were facing the same legal nightmare as officers investigating the disappearance of Arlene Fraser, 33, who went missing from her Elgin home.
Arlene’s estranged husband Nat, was already out on bail for her attempted murder in a separate incident before her disappearance.
It took two trials and appeals but he was convicted of her murder in 2012.
With that precedent police again moved against O’neill and Lauchlan over Allison Mcgarrigle’s murder.
By then they were out of jail and living in Spain, where they had tried to drug and sexually abuse a boy.
The pair were deported back to Britain in 2005.
Colin gave evidence to the trial at Glasgow High Court, telling jurors what they had said about killing the mum and disposing of her body.
They were found guilty of murdering her, hiding her body at the beach in Largs before taking her body out to sea where they dumped it.
Colin said: “By that time, I was no longer the scared little boy I had once been.
“I wanted to see them jailed for what they did to Allison, and all the people they had hurt.
“I looked straight at them as I gave evidence. I finally saw them with fear in their eyes instead of them finding it in mine.
“I had finally unmasked them for the cold hearted murderers they were.
“I am glad I was able to do that for Allison’s family who I think of with great sadness because I know no matter how long those killers spend in jail, they will never really get justice for their mum.
“I know they would kill me if they could, and I am lucky to have survived.”