Donna Marie Brand, one of the individuals convicted in the 1996 murder of 14-year-old Caroline Glachan, has died two years into her sentence. Brand was 47 and died on Wednesday at Forth Valley Hospital, near Falkirk. Her death is understood to be from natural causes.
Brand was serving her sentence at HMP Stirling. In 2023, she, along with co-accused Robert O’Brien and Andrew Kelly, were found guilty of the murder, which occurred at the River Leven in Renton, Dunbartonshire. Brand had lured the schoolgirl to the riverbank, where she was beaten and left to drown.
Caroline Glachan's body was discovered on August 25, 1996. All three killers were teenagers at the time of the crime. The 14-year-old victim had been meeting O’Brien, who was 18 at the time and had been warned by her mother to stay away from her. Evidence from a young witness, initially deemed unreliable but later corroborated, was pivotal in the conviction.
O’Brien received a minimum sentence of 22 years, and Kelly was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years. Brand's sentencing was delayed due to ill health, and in April 2024, she was ordered to serve at least 17 years for her role in the murder.
Following the verdicts in 2023, Caroline's mother, Margaret McKeich, expressed the long-lasting impact of the crime, stating that while her daughter was in the ground, the perpetrators had lived their lives.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Prison Service confirmed that police and the Procurator Fiscal are informed when an individual dies in custody, and Fatal Accident Inquiries are typically held.