Alexander Pacteau sentencing: ‘It is hard to find the words to describe this crime’

“You destroyed her young life and devastated a family.”

Just one of several hard-hitting comments from Judge Rita Rae yesterday as she imposed a life sentence on Alexander Pacteau, 21, for what she described as a “brutal, senseless, motiveless attack on a defenceless young woman”.

Addressing Pacteau directly during the sentencing hearing, Judge Rae described him as callous and calculating, and said his actions after the brutal killing, and his tissue of lies in the days afterwards, only added to the Buckleys’ pain.