Beware! Beast who killed our sister,6 could be in Scotland very soon
Family fear 80s fiend will return to Glasgow and pounce again
AN EVIL Scots child killer is to be freed from jail despite the fears of his victim’s family that he could go home to attack again.
Adam Stein was jailed for life after he abducted, raped and murdered six-year-old Collette Gallacher in 1986 in the English steel town of Corby.
He is due to be released on parole from his life sentence in March.
But Collette’s sisters Claire and Lauren Holmes believe Stein, 61, could return to his home city of Glasgow.
They are appealing to Scots who may have fallen victim to Stein to help put him back behind bars.
Claire, 29, told the Record: “We want people in Scotland to be aware of him so he can’t hide from what he’s done.
“It’s a scary thought he’s just going to be let back into society. He could go back to Scotland in weeks.
“The more stories we’re hearing now, we wonder if there might be others in Glasgow or Scotland who could have been a victim.
“If anyone does come forward it could put him back inside for the rest of his life.”
Collette was snatched by Stein as she went to catch the bus to school in Corby in February 1986.
Her mum Karen made a public appeal to find her in the town known as Little Scotland due to its large expat community.
Five days later Collette’s body was discovered in Stein’s loft after the welder went to a friend’s home and
It’s a scary thought that he’s going to be let back into society CLAIRE HOLMES SISTER OF COLLETTE GALLACHER
tried to take his own life. A court heard he lured Collette into his flat with crisps after his wife fled with their young son. Stein sexually assaulted her and suffocated her then hid her body.
He was given a life sentence with his tariff for parole set at 18-20 years.
Stein is understood to have left Scotland in the 80s. He spent time in Amsterdam and was briefly married to a woman from London but moved to Accrington, Lancashire, where he settled down with another partner.
When that ended he moved to Corby, where many Scots worked at the local steel plant. Collette’s family has learned that in 1984, two years before the murder, Stein was investigated and arrested by police after an accusation of rape.
No charges were ever brought and he was not prosecuted.
The family understand he was questioned over a sexual assault in Scotland between 1980 and 1983.
Claire said: “We understand he has history of being questioned in Scotland in connection with a previous sexual offence prior to murdering my sister. Why did he move from Scotland to England?
“He could have offended anywhere in the 1980s. We are appealing to anyone who may have been previously attacked by him, who didn’t feel brave enough to come out.
“Four people from our town have stepped forward with information. The more that come out make us realise how many more cases there could be across the country.”
In 2016, Stein was released to an address in the south-east of England but was back behind bars within 14 months after driving offences.
He has been granted parole under strict conditions but cannot be put on the sex offenders’ register because it came into force in 1997. Claire, who was born after Collette’s murder, and Lauren, 36, are appealing the parole board’s decision.
The Parole Board confirmed a panel directed the release of Stein after examining a range of evidence.
Northamptonshire Police said a cold case team had investigated a previous allegation of sexual assault by Stein in the Milton Keynes area and they were aware of an earlier investigation in Scotland.
They urged alleged victims of historic crime to come forward.
Police Scotland said it could not comment on the Scottish investigation.
AFTER being left to roam wild in the Australian outback, a sheep called Baarack grew a fleece weighing 5st 7lbs – and the photos in Tuesday’s paper were the highlight of my week.
Tell me, folks, is it possible to look at the “before” pic without thinking of the Stay Another Day video by East 17?
More animal magic as a woman in Alaska was bitten on the bum by a grizzly bear that sneaked up on her as she was sitting on an outdoor loo.
She’ll be returned home next week by the Mars probe Perseverance…
To be honest, I haven’t been following the exploits of the unmanned spacecraft on The Red Planet.
For all I know, its mission is to retrieve the ball after Ryan Christie’s sitter against Ross County.
But I read this week that scientists believe humans could live on Mars. Eh? Haven’t they seen the photos sent back by Perseverance? There’s no houses, no shops, no pubs…
Seriously, folks, after seeing Nicola Sturgeon’s roadmap out of lockdown, I wouldn’t rule out having a pint on Mars before our own pubs are back in action.
Scotland’s boozers are scheduled to open their doors – possibly – on April 26… but they won’t necessarily be allowed to sell any alcohol. Sorry? That’s like organising a house party and not inviting any Rangers players.
Like the rest of you, I’m absolutely choking for a night out (is 51 too old for a short-term deal at Ibrox?) and I only had one thought when I read this week about a book published in 1704 – auctioned for £800 – that says getting
Probe could retrieve the ball after Ryan Christie’s sitter
birds drunk on beer makes them sing louder. Yep, even a night at a karaoke bar would be great.
My Kirkcaldy correspondent Wee Jimmy is looking forward to the return of live theatre – even though he had a bad experience in Edinburgh last year while attending his first ever ballet.
“I got a ticket for the cheap seats up the back,” he said, “and I couldn’t hear a word they were saying.”
No sign of any summer holidays on the horizon, which reminds me that Sir Cliff Richard, right, has advertised his Barbados holiday home on Airbnb for £3000 a night.
Or £10,000 a night if you want all
the CDs removed. With foreign travel unlikely – but Scottish staycations still a possibility – let me take you back to a wee song I posted on Instagram last year (@therealtamcowan) inspired by the Peter Pan of Pop:
We’re not going on a summer holiday,
No more suncream for a year or two;
No fun, no laughter, no foreign holiday,
Hame’ll-dae-me, will it dae for you? For a year or two. We’re staying where the midges bite you,
With weather that’ll turn you blue; We’ve seen it in the movies, Trainspotting and Trainspotting 2… PS. A quick bit of research informs me the Nasa spacecraft on Mars is actually searching for signs of life in temperatures as low as minus 200F.
Sounds highly unlikely, but don’t forget – there’s a population of 800 in Braemar
The boffins always say the discovery of water is a sign of intelligent life.
However, as a wise man once observed, there’s water in Airdrie…