GUILTY UK - Catherine Gowing, 37, Queensferry, Wales; 12 Oct 2012

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irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Thursday, January 3, 2013, 15:23

The funeral of murdered 37-year old Catherine Gowing took place in Co Offaly this afternoon.

Hundreds of mourners filled St Flannan’s Church and its grounds in the village of Kinnitty, not far from the woman’s family home.

Ms Gowing from Clonlee in Birr, Co Offaly, was last seen alive at a supermarket in Queensferry, north Wales on October 12th.

Parish priest of Kinnitty Fr Michael O’Meara said there were “no words to explain why such a darkness visited our parish and this young woman in the prime of her life”.

Joined by Bishop of Killaloe Kieran O'Reilly, his predecessor Bishop Willie Walsh and eight priests from surrounding parishes, Fr O’Meara received gifts, brought to the altar by Ms Gowing’s friends and family, representing her life.

They included a globe and a DVD of the film Into the Wild, sympbolising her love of travel, and a stuffed sheep representing her love of animals.

Fr O’Meara thanked North Wales police, represented at the funeral by detective chief inspector Mark Pierce, for their painstaking, dilligent and patient investigation” and the “wonderfully compassionate way” in which they and local gardai had liased with Ms Gowing’s family.

Of a candle lit in the church on October 19th, days after Ms Gowing was reported missing, he said, “it refused to burn out, as if waiting for Catherine to come home”.

In her eulogy, Emma Gowing described her sister as someone who “sought the good in everyone she met”.

She recalled how on New Year’s Eve 2011, when her sister was working as a vet in Wales, she received a text to say she had just delivered two lambs. “I can’t think of a better way to start 2012,” it said.

She said her sister was, “happiest when she was walking up to the top field with our dog Bobby”.

Thanking friends, family, neighbours, priests and the police for their support in their three-month wait for the return of her sister’s remains, she said, “every act of kindness, thought, prayer, kind word has reinforced the good that’s here with us”.

“Our hearts are broken. We miss her, we love her, but Catherine is in a good place. She never said goodbye, there is no goodbye, there is only love”.

Ms Gowing was laid to rest this afternoon in St Flannan’s cemetery in Kinnitty.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2013/0103/breaking12.html

What a beautiful family, may God comfort them in their sorrow.

Ar dheis De go raibh a h-anam. - May her soul be at the right hand of God


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I'm glad in one way that he has spared the family by admitting to murder; they said they think the some of her remains were put in the river so I hope he's also revealed that. Just gutting that they may never find her.
 
Clive Sharp will be sentenced today, at the same court complex where Mark Bridger's trial starts today for the murder of April Jones.

The mum of murdered Irish vet Catherine Gowing says she will get no comfort from seeing her daughter’s killer jailed for life.

In an exclusive interview with WalesOnline Maureen Gowing says she can’t bear to travel to North Wales to see Clive Sharp sentenced on Monday.

And in a moving tribute she called 37-year-old Catherine the “perfect” daughter who had fulfilled her lifelong ambition by working as a vet in Mold, Flintshire.

She said: “No [it won’t bring me any comfort to see him get life]. Not to me.”

Retired teacher Mrs Gowing, from Clonlee, Kinnitty, in County Offaly, Ireland, told how her family, including farmer husband John and Catherine’s sister Emma, were struggling to come to terms with the murder.

by Darren Devine, WalesOnlineFeb 24 2013


Read more: Wales Online http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...ily-s-heartache-91466-32861987/#ixzz2LtNdTYwE

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Mold Crown Court - update.
Sentencing hearing commenced at 1100.
Court 1 T20127260 CLIVE SHARPE For Sentence - Hearing finished for CLIVE SHARPE - 11:50 2013-02-25 11:56:51

Life imprisonment, minimum 37 years.

Sharp has a previous conviction for rape in 1983.

He will serve a minimum period of 37 years before he can be considered for parole.

Mr Justice Griffith Williams described Sharp as a very serious danger to women, and said he had carried out a horrific, cold-hearted murder to gratify his perverted sexual desires.
Click to expand...

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0225/369443-gowing/
 
I was shocked when I read about his past history. He should never have been free to attack Catherine.
 
Mold Crown Court heard that Sharp had a number of previous convictions, including the rape of a 15-year-old in 1983, who he threatened by holding a broken glass to her neck.

And while he was in a sex offenders' programme in the 1990s he had admitted to "a long-standing fantasy of imprisoning, raping and murdering a woman".
Click to expand...

http://www.independent.ie/irish-new...s-litany-of-sex-crimes-revealed-29093762.html

I just don't understand how someone like this is allowed to roam the streets :furious:
 
18 May 2013

Friends, family and colleagues have paid tribute to a murdered Irish vet at a memorial service in Flintshire.

Catherine Gowing, 37, who had been living in New Brighton, near Mold, was killed last October.

People who attended the service in Buckley shared memories of Miss Gowing, who was described as a lovely person with a great sense of humour.

Colleagues at her veterinary practice in Mold organised Saturday's service at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church.

Carole Davies, a friend and colleague at DE Evans Veterinary Practice, said they wanted to hold the memorial service as they felt their memories of Miss Gowing had been overshadowed by her murder.

"Catherine's personality got lost," she said.

She added that they had wanted to hold a "happy service" to remind people of her.

During the service, friends shared memories of Miss Gowing, while some of her favourite songs were played.

A children's choir from St David's Catholic School in Mold sang The Lord Is My Shepherd and All Things Bright and Beautiful.

A mixed adult choir also sang the Welsh hymn Calon Lan, which Miss Gowing told colleagues she loved but did not understand after hearing the choir Only Boys Aloud perform it on ITV's Britain's Got Talent.

After the service, more modern songs including Aerosmith's I Don't Want to Miss a Thing and the entire soundtrack to the Abba musical Mamma Mia were played as people had tea or coffee in the church hall.

Miss Gowing's sister, Emma MacGuire, who attended with her husband Shay, said the family were deeply grateful for all the love, care and kindness the people of north Wales and North Wales Police had shown them.

"The service today has been such a beautiful representation of my sister," she said. "She is here with us in spirit today."

Miss Gowing was described by Father Francis Doyle as a good friend and colleague to so many, who was down to earth, with a great commitment to help her clients and their animals.

He said she had made a tremendous and lasting impression.

"Catherine had a great love of God's creatures," he added.

Staff at the surgery also presented Miss Gowing's family with a book of remembrance, which had been signed by colleagues and clients.

Ms Davies said staff were still grieving for their colleague.

"We still feel it very badly every day and our clients do too," she added. "She really was popular."

More than 300 people attended the funeral of Miss Gowing in Kinnitty, County Offaly, in January.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-22569423

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