Man sentenced to minimum of 37 years for murder of Offaly vet

A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of Offaly vet Catherine Gowing in Wales in October of last year.

Forty-six year old Clive Sharp will have to serve a minimum of 37 years before he can be considered for parole for what presiding judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams described as an ‘horrific, cold-hearted murder’.

The convicted sex offender pleaded guilty to the murder and the court heard how he had crept into Catherine Gowing’s home in the middle of the night and tied her to her bed. He repeatedly raped her before murdering her and dismembering her body. He then disposed of her remains in a variety of locations. Sharp also burnt out the vet’s car in an attempt to destroy evidence.

Catheirne was last seen on Friday, October 12, 2012 when she was sighted on CCTV leaving the ASDA supermarket in Queensferry.

Her colleagues raised the alarm the following Monday morning when she failed to appear for work. Her car was later found burnt out near a quarry close to her home.

After an intense search, human remains that were later identified as the missing Offaly woman’s were discovered in a shallow pond and on the banks of the river Dee

In her victim impact statement, Catherine’s sister Emma, who was the the forefront of the search, stated, “That man has caused my family unimaginable pain, suffering and grief and the recurring nightmare of what he did to her before she died.”