Alexander Pacteau admits brutal murder of student Karen Buckley

A man who has pleaded guilty to the brutal murder of Irish student nurse Karen Buckley repeatedly hit her over the head and body with a spanner before attempting to hide her body.

Alexander Pacteau, 21, submitted his plea before the High Court in Glasgow court today, four months to the day after the 24-year-old first went missing.

Police said Pacteau met Buckley outside The Sanctuary nightclub in the city the night she disappeared.

It is believed he took her in his car to Kelvin Way where he attacked and murdered her by grabbing her neck and delivering 12 or 13 blows with a spanner.

The court heard that, after killing Buckley, Pacteau drove to his flat and hid her body in his bedroom.

Prosecutors said he then went out again, buying six litres of caustic soda with the intention of dissolving her body.

He texted a flatmate to make sure he was out for the day, before returning to the flat and hiding leaving Buckley's body in the bath.

It is believed Pacteau then threw the spanner he used to kill Buckley into the Forth and Clyde Canal before returning home to order the large blue barrel his victim was later found in.

The student nurse's body was discovered in the barrel at High Craigton farm, near Glasgow, on April 16, four days after she was reported missing by friends.

A day later Pacteau appeared in court charged with her murder.

Originally from Cork, Miss Buckley had been studying at Glasgow Caledonian University at the time of her disappearance in April.