Scottish Murders: Paige Doherty

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The story of Paige Doherty, a 15 year old girl stabbed to death in a deli.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi everyone, I'm Cindy, the host of True Crime California,
a weekly podcast about murders and other true crime that
takes place in the great Golden State. Join me every
week as I talk about a new case, some very
well known and others not so well known, but always
coming straight out of California. True Crime California is a

(00:24):
proud member of the dark Cast Network.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Dark Cast Network bringing our indie podcasts out of the shadows.

(00:51):
Today's episode is about the vicious murder of fifteen year
old school girl Page Doherty in Clyde Bank, who is
on our way to a part time job in a heirdre.
She had her whole life ahead of her and had
so many plans, but on Saturday, the nineteenth of March
two thousand and sixteen, her young life would be cut short.
Clydebank is a town in western Bartonshire situated on the

(01:14):
banks of the ribber Clyde In about six and a
half miles northwest of Glasgow. In two thousand and twelve,
the population was estimated as being twenty six thousand, six
hundred and forty A few famous people you may have
heard of originate from Clydebank, such as Duncan, Bernantine, Kevin Bridges,
and pop band Wet Wet Wet was formed in Clydebank

(01:36):
in nineteen eighty two. Clydebank is also home to one
hundred and fifty foot high crane called the Titan, which
was used for lifting heavy equipment during the fitting out
of battleships and ocean liners. Page lived in the Whitecrook
area of Clydebank with her family mom, Pamela and stepdad Andy,
two younger brothers, Andrew, who was ten and Lucas who

(01:58):
was three months old, and one younger sister, Peyton, who
was four. Pamela and Page's biological father, John, who lived
about a twenty nine minute drive away from his daughter,
had split up before Page was born. John and Pamela
both got on with their lives separately. John had a
new family not long after Page's birth and he did

(02:19):
not play a part in Page's life. Andy Page's stepfather
came into her life when she was four years old.
She dotted in her stepdad, and when she was fourteen
years old, she showed just how much on Father's Day
when she said on Facebook, Happy Father's Day, dead to
the best guy out. Even though we argue twenty four
to seven. You're always there for me and always will be,

(02:41):
and I have your back too. You've been with us
since I was four and it's honestly been the best
thing that's ever happened to me. And my mum Will
loves you to pieces and is so happy. Love you
lots and lots, have a great day. Andy Monroe Page
loved her family. She would regularly take her younger siblings
swimming into the cinema as well as by them we

(03:02):
presents when she got paid from her Saturday job every week,
and her siblings just doated on their big sister. Paige's
grandmother said that she was a kind, selfless person and
an all round good girl. Page was well known in
the area and known to be a bubbly, friendly girl.
Pamela had Page when she was about seventeen years old

(03:23):
and they were very close. Page's passion was beauty and
hair dressing. She always had to have the latest makeup
and took lots of photos of herself for social media.
She was also popular at school and had lots of friends,
but her best friend was Lauren. On Friday, the eighteenth
of March, Page decided that she was going to stay
at her friend Lauren's house for the night and go

(03:45):
to our part time job in a hairdressers straight from
her friend's house on the Saturday morning. Paige spent some
time with her family on the Friday evening before saying
by to her mum Pamela at about ten fifteen pm,
and then headed to Lauren's house for the night. The
girls no doubt spent some time on social media as
well as chatting, laughing and listening to music before eventually

(04:07):
getting some sleep. And then on Saturday morning, Page left
Lauren's house just after eighty m for the five minute
walk to Fleming Avenue, where she went to get a
breakfast roll from the deli there. Like every other Saturday morning,
she would then walk about five minutes to the nearest
bus stop to start her journey to work, firstly traveling
into Glasgow and then on to Kirkintilla, which is about

(04:29):
thirteen miles away from Clydebank and northeast of Glasgow, where
part time hairdressing job was. Paige couldn't wait to leave
school and go on to work as a hairdresser. However,
in Kirkintilla on Saturday, the nineteenth of March, Page's start
time at the hairdressers came and went, and Page did
not arrive Back in Clyde Bank, Paige's boyfriend was becoming

(04:51):
concerned as he had not heard from his girlfriend that morning,
which was unusual, so he called the hairdressers to see
if Page was okay. When they spoke to her colleagues, however,
he grew even more concerned as Page had not turned
up for work. Page was a very reliable person and
wouldn't just not turn up Something clearly was wrong, So

(05:12):
her boyfriend contacted Page's mum, Pamela, to see if she
had spoken to Page that morning. Pamela advised that she
had not heard from Page that morning either, which also
was unusual. A Page always would text her mum to
say hi. Pamela tried and tried to get hold of
Page in her mobile, but there was no answer. Where
was Page. As concern grew, Page's mum, Pamela contacted the

(05:36):
police and a missing person's inquiry began. This was a
harrowing time for both pages family and her friends, and
they felt they needed to do something to help find Page,
and so friends and family set up a Facebook page
appealing for any information on Pages Whereabouts. Thousands of posters
were also produced and distributed in the local area. Searching

(05:59):
for any she could on Pages Whereabouts. Page's mum, Pamela,
went into the Delicious Deli in Fleming Avenue on Sunday
to speak to the owner, John Letham, knowing that Page
went to the Delhi every Saturday morning to get a
breakfast droll. John wasn't in the shop, but a member
of staff there got John on the phone to ask
him if he'd seen Page that Saturday morning. At first,

(06:22):
John didn't seem to know who either Page or Pamela were,
but eventually he placed them both and advised that yes,
Page had come into the shop that morning and she'd
bought a row and then left. John also said to
the staff member on the phone to him to say
to Pamela that she was welcome to come around to
his house later and he would tell her everything he knew.

(06:43):
Pamela declined as she didn't know John very well and
didn't even know where he stayed, but to thank him
all the same. So this information was a starting point.
Pamela now knew that Page must have gone missing after
she'd been in the Delhi on the Saturday what could
have happened between the day in the five minute walk
she would have taken to get to the bus stop.

(07:04):
Following the missing person inquiry being opened, the police appeal
to the public for any information on the whereabouts of Page,
giving a description of Page as being a slim schoolgirl
of four foot eight inches with long dark hair, who
had been wearing a dirt jacket, white top, blue jeans
and white night trainers when she went missing. Page's mum

(07:25):
also made an appeal directly to Page, saying that she
wasn't in any trouble and no one was angry, just
that everyone was worried about her safety and just to
come home. Following these appeals, a nearby shop owner provided
more useful information to the police. At the time, there
were five terrorist shops on Fleming Avenue. At one end

(07:46):
was Fleming Gift Shop and Fleming Food Store, and at
the other end was the Delicious Deli owned by John Letham.
Following the appeal for information about pages movements on Saturday,
the nineteenth of March, in the morning, the police learned
from the owner of Fleming Food Store, as She Ahmed,
that he had actually waved a Page that Saturday morning
about eight fifteen am, as she passed his shop on

(08:09):
her way to the Delicious Deli, so the place had
more confirmation that Page had indeed made it to the
Delhi and the Deli owner had seen her leave, so
whatever happened to her must have happened after she left
the Delhi. Gulls Are Ahmed was the owner of Fleming
Gift Shop and he had installed a high quality CCTV
camera which covered all of the five shops. It ran

(08:33):
twenty four hours a day and kept the last twelve
days worth of footage, so maybe footage from this CCTV
would reveal what happened to Page after she had left
the Delhi. However, about twelve forty five pm on Monday,
the twenty first of March, two days after Page went
missing and before the CCTV footage could be reviewed, a

(08:54):
man out walking came across a body in a wooded
area behind a path off Great Western Road, which is
a busy road between Clydebank and Glasgow. This was also
about half a mile from where Page was last seen alive,
walking towards the Delhi. It was confirmed by the senior
investigating officer Detective Superintendent Duncan Sloane on Tuesday, the twenty

(09:16):
second of March that the body found was that of
Page Doherty, that a murder inquiry had been launched and
the police were appealing again for any information on Page's
movements on Saturday, the nineteenth of March. This was absolutely
devastating news for Page's family, but through her grief, Pamela
Page's mum still found a strength to post a brief

(09:39):
message on the Facebook page that had been set up
when Paged initially gone missing. She said, myself and Andy
Monroe would like to thank everyone for their support and
help in trying to find our daughter. Unfortunately, we can
confirm that it is our beautiful girl Page who was
found in Clydebank. Again, thank you for all you support.

(10:00):
I am seeing everyone's messages, but understandably we've a lot
on our minds and kent reply. We are absolutely devastated,
as will many people be who know her. Following the
discovery of the body, roads near the area were cordoned
off and forensic teams began searching the area. The police
proceeded to carry out door to door inquiries in and

(10:23):
around the area. In the Hope that there had been
a sighting of Page try to piece together her final movements,
as well as reviewing CCTV footage in the area Page's
body was found and where she had last been seen alive.
On the morning of Monday, the twenty first of March,
before the body was found, Place had approached Gulzar Ahmed

(10:43):
regarding the footage and had taken away three hours worth
of footage from Saturday morning. Upon viewing this footage, they
saw Page walking on Fleming Avenue on the Saturday morning,
walking past Flemingy Foods and Fleming Gift Shop and walking
straight into Delicious. They continued to watch the three hour footage,
but in this time they did not see Page leaving

(11:06):
the Delhi and so at this point the police had
more questions than answers, and so on the morning of Wednesday,
the twenty third of March, police returned to gulls Ar
Ahmad's gift shop and requested to take away the entire
CCTV footage, which had been twelve days worth, and then
proceeded to review this footage. Police had also searched CCTV

(11:28):
footage from around the area Page's body had been found,
and a car had been spotted near the same area
at about six a m. On the twenty first of March.
This was of great interest to the place, and upon
reviewing both sets of footage, a picture began to emerge
of just what had happened to fifteen year old Page Doherty. Now.

(11:49):
While the police were investigating Page's murder, obviously, her friends
and family were struggling to come to terms with what
was happening. So in order to feel like they were
doing something to help, Pages, friends set up a crowdfunding
campaign in order to help Page's family pay for her funeral. Apparently,
this campaign received more than fourteen thousand pounds or about

(12:09):
eighteen thousand, five hundred dollars only a day after it
was set up. Also, in Page's honor, a memorial was
arranged by Page's friends a few days after her murder.
The memorial was attended by hundreds of people, many carrying
pink balloons in pages honor. Page's murder had shocked the community,
but everyone pulled together to help one another, including on

(12:31):
the evening of the twenty fourth of March, the Titan
crane in Clydebank was lit up in pink in Page's
memory and to show support to everyone affected by the
horrific murder. Page's mum also started a Facebook page and
the trend Pout for Page, in which even Scotland's First
Minister showed her support by posting a picture of her

(12:51):
self pouting. It was so heartening to see the people
of Clydebank and wider Scotland showing their report for Page's
family and fries friends. While the community were coming together
to support each other, the police continued their investigation. Following
the police reviewing the footage from Fleming Avenue of Page
walking into Delicious Deli on Saturday, the nineteenth of March,

(13:14):
but there being no footage of her coming out, John
Letham was brought in for questioning. He was asked again
if he had seen Page that morning in his deli
and he said yes, he had seen her that morning.
They asked him what should seem like that morning and
he had said she seemed normal. He then stated that
after Page buying her role and sausage, she had left

(13:35):
the Delhi. However, now that the police had looked through
the entire footage from Fleming Avenue, they knew there was
no footage of Page leaving. Due to the overwhelming evidence
that Page had entered the Deli but had not come out.
On Wednesday, the twenty third of March, the police descended
again on Fleming Avenue, this time accordoning off the Delicious Deli.

(13:57):
Forensic officers carried out extent of searches in the Delhi,
as well as at John Letham's house near the Deli
in Brown Avenue and his car. When the police put
it to John Letham that they believed something had happened
to Page in the Delicious Deli and that forensic officers
were searching the premises, he continued to deny any knowledge

(14:17):
of Page's disappearance and subsequent murder, going as far as
saying that the forensic teams would not find any of
Page's blood in his deli. However, despite the fact that
there had obviously been an attempt to clean any blood
from the Deli, the forensic teams were quick to find
pages blood in the back office of the Delhi, on
the walls, on a fridge, between the floorboards, and on

(14:41):
removing the floorboards. Spots of Page's blood were also found.
While John Letham continued to deny knowing anything about Page's
disappearance or death, the evidence just kept mounting up against him. Finally, though,
upon being presented with all the evidence against him, he
did admit to killing a fifteen year old Page, and

(15:02):
on Thursday, the twenty fourth of March twenty sixteen, five
days after Page disappeared, John Letham was arrested on suspicion
of murdering Page. He appeared in Dumbarton Sheriff Court on
the twenty sixth of March were a private hearing and
was charged with Page's murder, where he made no plea
and was to remain in custody and to appear in

(15:23):
court at a later date. John Letham was thirty one
years old at the time. He was married to Cassia
and they had a new baby daughter. He also had
a nine year old daughter from a previous relationship, who
was also called Page, and before he was arrested for
Page's murder, he told a newspaper reporter that he would
hate it if anything happened to his daughter. Cassia refused

(15:45):
to believe her husband's guilt and stood by him, visiting
him in prison and believing that he would be cleared
of all charges. Page's post mortem was carried out on
the twenty fourth of March, and only then were Paige's
family able to actually have a viewing of her. However,
there were so many stipulations and they were only allowed
ten minutes with her. They were told that in order

(16:08):
for Page's body to remain as intact as possible, they
were not allowed to spend any more time with her
and were certainly not allowed to touch her or hold her.
This was in case the defense wanted to perform a
second post mortem, and they were given one hundred and
ten days to do this. In fact, Page's body was
the property of the crown and not her family. Following

(16:29):
the post mortem, Page's death certificates said that she had
died from sharp forced injuries to her neck. Page's family
were finally able to give Page a funeral she would
have been so proud of on the twentieth of April,
three days after what would have been her sixteenth birthday.
The service took place at Saint Margaret's Church in Clydebank.

(16:52):
Pamela Page's mum had said to family and friends to
turn their anger at Page's death into cherishing the memory
of her beauty fault smiling girl. She wanted to seize
smiles that day to remember Page. No tears, just happy
memories of Page. A beautiful video of Page's family and
friends paying tribute to Page was played during the service.

(17:15):
Following the service, Page's coffin was transported to its final
resting place by horse drawn carriage, with a pink floral
star placed on the top of the carriage. Page's final
resting place eventually got its headstone on the eighth of
March twenty eighteen, over two years after her funeral. Pamela

(17:35):
said on Facebook that this had been a day she
hadn't wanted to face and had found this extremely hard.
Pamela has asked that the headstone before family and friends
only something just for them, and to please not share
any pictures of it now. Even before Page's family had
the ordeal of attending the High Court to hear John

(17:55):
Letham's plea in him being sentenced for his crime, there
were a lot of awful rumors going around the community
that there was more to John Letham and Page's relationship
than met the eye. It was suggested that they had
actually been seeing each other and that she might even
have been pregnant. Not only did the family have to
go through the pain of losing Page, but they also

(18:16):
had to listen to these horrible rumors. However, every line
of inquiry had to be looked into, so the police
carried out an investigation into these claims. After extensively checking
pages mobile phone records, social media posts, emails, and collecting
CCTV footage of any of her visits to the deli,
there was absolutely nothing to suggest that Page and John

(18:39):
Letham had been having any kind of relationship, and as
there had been a post mortem on Page's body, the
rumor that she had been pregnant was immediately rolled out
as just gossip. She was just a wee girl living
her young life while Pamela kept herself busy with honoring
Page any way she could and keeping her name on
everyone's lips. More pain was yet to come, as on

(19:02):
the fifth of September twenty sixteen, Page's family and friends
attended the High Court in Glasgow where John Letham pleaded
guilty to Page's murder. During the hearing, not only did
Page's family and friends have to listen to the horrendous
attack that took place on Page, but they also had
to listen to John Lethum's attempts at justifying what he

(19:24):
had done to her. Paige had entered the Delhi that
morning at about eight twenty one am to buy her
breakfast roll. Apparently, John Letham had then invited Paige through
to the back office to discuss a job application. According
to John Lethum, Pagred started to fill out the application
form and he had noticed from her date of birth
that she was only fifteen, and so he had said

(19:46):
to her that he would need to discuss the job
with her mum as she was under age. And again,
according to John Letham, Paigred then said that if he
didn't give her the job at his deli, she would
say that he had touched her, bearing in mind, of course,
that Page already had a part time job in a hairdresser's,
a profession that she herself wanted to pursue when she
left school, so there would be absolutely no reason for

(20:10):
her to be looking for a job in any other
line of work. However, according to John Letham, upon hearing
this from Page, he panicked as he had a relative
that was on the sex offenders register and he knew
that they had had nothing but problems since and he
didn't want to be put on the register himself, and so,
in his apparently panicked state, he grabbed a knife and

(20:31):
repeatedly stabbed Page. However, in the attack, it wasn't just
a knife that he used. Apparently he had attacked Page
with other weapons, thought to be a screwdriver and scissors,
although none of the weapons used were ever found. There
were a few different accounts of what John Letham had
actually done to Page. The newspapers stated that Page had

(20:54):
sixty one stab wounds to her face, head and neck,
and a further eighty five slash also to her face,
head and neck, with a few lacerations on her arms
where should obviously try to defend herself. However, the true
extent of Page's injuries were still to be revealed. John
Letham's advocate did concede that the attack on Page had

(21:17):
been a gross overreaction, while Judge Lady Ray, the judge
presiding over the case, said that it had been a savage,
frenzied attack and was truly reprehensible. The main evidence and
most damning in the court case was the CCTV obtained
by the police. Firstly, the footage from Fleming Food Store,

(21:37):
showing Page going into the deli and not coming out.
Ten minutes later, the CCTV showed that the shutters to
the deli were pulled down. Then just over an hour
and a half later, it showed John Letham running to
Fleming Food Store where he bought antibacterial wipes, bin bags,
and bleach before running back to the Delhi. Then just

(21:58):
a few minutes later, it showed was John Lethum walking
to his car, which was parked across from the deli
and making space in the boot of his car. John
Letham is then seen carrying a black bag to his
car and dumping it roughly into the open boot. Apparently
you can see a foot with a white sock protruding
from the bag. This was Page. John Lethum then drives away,

(22:22):
where he apparently went to his home where he put
Page's body in his garden shed, where he kept her
until the Monday morning, when he dumped her body at
six am. His carr is seen at six am on
CCTV in the area Page's body was found, and shockingly,
after John Letham had removed Page's body from the deli
and placed it in his shed, He then went back

(22:44):
to the deli and continued to serve customers until three
fifteen pm that day. He then returned to the deli
again at six oh four pm and was seen on
CCTV from inside the deli tidying up and carrying plastic bags.
It actually was a CCTV camera inside the deli in
the front where customers were served, but apparently when the

(23:07):
police asked John Letham for any footage of the time
period when Page would have been in the shop, it
had mysteriously disappeared, although thankfully the police were able to
recover it. And then on Sunday, the day after he
had brutally murdered Page, John Letham carried on with his
life as normal and went on a day trip with
his wife and baby. Upon hearing the evidence against John

(23:30):
Letham and in pleading guilty to pages murder, he was
then taken back to prison to await his sentencing, which
took place at the Crown Court on the twelfth of
October twenty sixteen, with Page's family and friends also present. However,
before sentencing, John Letham's advocate asked that any sentence given
take into account the fact that John Letham had never

(23:52):
had any previous convictions and he had shown genuine remorse. However,
this was rejected and John Letham was sets to a
minimum of twenty seven years in jail before being eligible
for parole. Due to the fact that it had been
such a brutal killing and because he had hidden the body.
Judge Lady Ray said that she would have sentenced John

(24:13):
Letham to thirty years if it hadn't been for his
early plea. A clear relief was felt in the court
room that day that just as had been done, and
Page's family and friends vented their anger towards John Letham
as he was taken from court in handcuffs. Outside of
the court after the sentencing, Pamela gave a statement saying

(24:34):
that today we see a monster put behind bars for
the unthinkable brutal crime he committed against our daughter Page.
There is no sentence high enough to justify what has happened,
but we can say now there is one less evil
man in this world, which makes the world that bit
more safe for our kids to grow up in. She

(24:55):
went on to say that her and her family are
taking each day at a time. There is a huge
peace missing in our family that can never be replaced.
I am thankful for the fifteen years we had with Page,
from the kind and generous we saw she was, to
the mature young woman she grew into. She may not
be with us any more, but she will live on

(25:17):
through her brothers and sister and all the memories that
we share. Pamela went on to say that the family
now needs space to try to collect their thoughts and
start to rebuild their lives, as the case had been
exhausting for them all. John Lethum's wife, Kessia, finally realized
that her husband and father of her child was a

(25:37):
murderer and he would be spending a long time behind bars.
She left Scotland and returned to her home town in
Poland with her young daughter, whom she stayed with her
mom and dad. However, that was not the end of
Page's family and friends torture, as later in October, John
Lethum appealed his sentencing. Following the launch of John Lethum's appeal,

(25:59):
Page's family set up a Justice for Page Facebook page
which campaigned against the proceedings. This is when Pamela finally
revealed the actual extent of the attack against Page. She
said she hated to have to reveal the exact details,
but she felt she needed to as she believed John
Letham should not have a sentence reduced. John Lethum, in

(26:22):
a state of panic, had attacked a fifteen year old
girl so savagely that her nose was broken and her
eye had been slipped straight across. She also had a
hole the size of a man's fist on the left
side of her neck from where she had been repeatedly stabbed.
Apparently there was not much left of the left side
of her neck. Pamela believes that Page had actually been

(26:45):
stabbed in the region of five hundred times. Pamela also
said that most of the injuries were to the left
side of Page's face and neck, and that the right
side of her face had been untouched in the attack.
John Letham's appeal hearing took place two days years before
Christmas in twenty sixteen, where John Letham's solicitors stated that

(27:05):
his sentence of twenty seven years was excessive, saying that
his sentence was higher than similar cases. No outcome was
given at this hearing, so Paige's family had this hanging
over them all over Christmas, as well as the heartbreak
of not having Page around. However, finally, in February twenty seventeen,

(27:26):
the Appeal Court made a decision. It had been decided
that the length of punishment had not been consistent with
the current sentence in practices and was excessive given it
had been John Letham's first offense, that he was a
family man, that it had not been premeditated, and because
he had expressed remorse. The original sentence of twenty seven

(27:48):
years was quashed and John Letham was given a new sentence,
now to spend at least twenty three years in prison
before being eligible for parole. This was devastating news for
Pages family and friends. They were shocked and saddened by
the reduction in John Letham's sentence. A spokesperson for the
Justice for Page Facebook page said that the man who

(28:11):
brutally murdered a fifteen year old, defenseless child has been
given more time off a sentence he will only have
to serve twenty three years. There are no words to
describe how we fail. Its heartbreaking and serves no justice
to Page in her family. She had her whole life
ahead of her and it's been ripped apart. In twenty

(28:32):
three years, her killer will walk the streets. Following this
devastating blow, the Justice for Page Facebook Page then began
to look at a possible change in the law, which,
if passed by the Scottish Parliament, would limit the amount
of time a post mortem examination could be carried out,
so no other family of a murder victim would have

(28:54):
to go through the same nightmare as Pages of not
being able to bury their loved one until the defend
had given the o k and they had one hundred
and ten days to do this. However, in January twenty
twenty one, it was reported that the law bill called
Page's Law, had failed, leaving families this had affected extremely

(29:15):
disappointed and feeling let down. On the third of October
twenty sixteen, Page's heartbroken family placed a plaque on the
wall outside the Delhi where Page was killed as a memorial.
It reads Page Doherty seventeen o four, two thousand to
nineteen o three, two thousand and sixteen, Glasgow's Angel Remembered

(29:37):
with a smile. Since that time, Pamela has not slipped
into the background and kept quiet. She continues to speak
about Page Page's murder and of honoring Page any way
she can. Pamela said that Page had left behind an
unfinished bucket list and she would be completing it on
behalf of her daughter to keep her memory alive. When

(29:57):
Page's bucket lists were things such as traveling to Barbadeous
in New York, learning to drive, meeting Amy Child's the
Reality Stir from the TV program Towey, getting a tattoo,
and having her eyebrows tattooed on. Pamela admitted that she
wasn't too keen on having her eyebrows tattooed. Page's bucket
list was starting to be checked off, as in November

(30:20):
twenty seventeen, Pamela and her son Andrew traveled to New York.
Andrew and Paige had always wanted to go to New York,
and it had been planned that Andrew, Pamela, and Paige
would go to New York to celebrate Page in Andrew's birthdays,
but sadly, Page was murdered before this could happen. On
the tenth of May twenty seventeen, the family received some

(30:42):
good news and hope in their lives. Andy Page's step
dead and Pamela Page's mom welcomed a baby girl into
their family. They named her Penny Margaret Page after her
big sister, Pamela. Page's mom has always wanted to help
others that have or are going through the same that
she had gone through, so in the eighteenth of August

(31:05):
twenty seventeen, the charity Page's Promise was registered by her
family in the hope that the charity would be able
to teach children self defense and support families who have
lost loved ones through grief counseling and taking families on
short breaks away from everything to start to heal and
be with people who understand their pain. In order to

(31:26):
again raise awareness and also to raise money for the charity,
a Page's Promise Ball was held in Glasgow on the
fourteenth of April twenty nineteen. This would have been three
days before Page's eighteenth birthday. The Page's Promise Ball was
a huge event. It was held at the Hilton Hotel
in Glasgow and special guests included DJ's George Bowie and

(31:48):
Xander Nation, podcaster James English, singer Jane Henderson, and the
event was hosted by DJ Susie Maguire. For pages actual
eighteenth birthday on the seventeen of April. The family celebrated
quietly with a large family dinner. Pamela said that she
actually bought Page the birthday present that she would have

(32:08):
bought her if she had still been alive, except for
the range rover that Page had desperately wanted. The family
then auctioned the gifts off for the charity. This is
a gesture that is stuck with Page's family and they
continue to buy Birthday and Christmas presents for Page again,
either giving them away to charity or to Women's Aid,
and this is something that Pamela said they will do

(32:30):
for the rest of their lives if she won't have
Page being missed out. Following the success of Page's Ball
in twenty eighteen, the charity hosted another ball on the
twenty third of March twenty nineteen. This was another success
with a huge turnout. Unfortunately, due to COVID, the ball
in twenty twenty had to be canceled. However, in January

(32:53):
twenty twenty, Pamela announced that she would be starting a
Mammoth five thousand mile challenge, walking the length and bread
of Scotland, which would plant Page's promise flags along her route,
which had the names of lost loved ones from other
families on each flag. In April twenty twenty two, the
charity Pages Promise held another fundraising event which was to

(33:16):
mark what would have been Page's twenty first birthday, and
this time they hope to raise money to support not
only others who have or are going through the same
as Page's family, but also to support men's mental health.
The Page's Promised charity is always arranging events and activities,
including a Lady's Afternoon Tea on a bus tour which
is an aid of any woman who had experienced sudden loss,

(33:39):
a kilt walk and hillwalking. Page's mom, Pamela also did
an interview with James English, who is the host of
the podcast Anything Goes. In this interview, Pamela gave an
insight into exactly what she went through from when Paige
went missing to her body being found, and how her
life has been since her daughter was taken away from

(33:59):
her so violently. Pamela also said on the podcast that
she will never forgive John Letham for what he did
to Page and described his sentence as a total joke,
saying that he deserved to rot in prison, but instead
he will be free to get on with his life
in twenty years. Pamela also said that she would like

(34:20):
to sit down with John Lethum face to face and
ask him why he killed her wee girl. She said
she has written to John Lethump repeatedly asking him why
he did what he did and asking for a visit
with him. However, he has never replied. As I said earlier,
Page was a strange from her biological dead John Bothwell, however,

(34:40):
the savage murder of his daughter laid heavily on his
mind and heart, and sadly, on Saturday, the twenty fifth
of August two thousand and eighteen, he died. He had
been taken to hospital after becoming unwell, but had slipped
into a coma and had passed away. John's mother apparently
felt that John had died from a broken heart. John

(35:00):
was a boxer, and he had apparently struggled to come
to terms with the fact that he had not been
there to protect his daughter and it had haunted him terribly.
John was thirty seven years old when he died. Sadly,
Pamela and Page's stepdad Andy split up. However, Pamela is
now happily in love with her new partner Alan, and

(35:21):
in April twenty twenty they welcomed a baby boy into
the world. Since arriving in prison, John Letham has not
been a very popular man. In November two thousand and sixteen,
he had to be moved from HMP Low Moss to
HMP Dumfries as it was discovered that other prisoners were
plotting to kill him. Two days after he arrived in

(35:42):
HMP Dumfries, he was punched in the head and face
by another prisoner and apparently John Letham continues to live
in fear for his life and is scared he will
be attacked again. Pamela and Page's promise never stops trying
to help others who find themselves in similar heartbreaking situations
that Pamela found herself in. Pamela never stops telling Paige's story,

(36:07):
and she never stops celebrating Page's life. Pamela has chosen
to continue to turn her grief and loss into something
positive and do all she can to be there for
others in their time of grief, all the while keeping
Page's memory alive.

Speaker 1 (37:15):
Scottish Murders is a production of chlorine tone,