The family of Karen Buckley say they mourn her loss every day and hope the "truly evil coward" who killed her spends every day in prison haunted by what he did. 

Alexander Pacteau, 21, will serve a minimum of 23 years in prison for murdering the Cork student on a night out in Glasgow. 

In an emotional statement, the Buckley family said: "Today's life sentence will not bring our beautiful Karen back. Our little angel has been taken from us forever in the cruellest of ways. We mourn for her every day.

"It will however ensure that women are safe from harm from the truly evil coward who took our beautiful Karen's precious life. I hope that he is never released and spends every day in prison haunted by what he did".

"Marian and I would again like to thank the people of Scotland and Ireland, the Irish Garda and the Scottish Police and Prosecution service for all their help and support in bringing Karen's killer to justice. We appreciate most especially those who keep us in their thoughts and prayers.

"We all want to move on and try to piece our lives back together. We have three wonderful sons and we need to be there for each other as a family. We would be grateful if we can now be left alone to grieve and our family's privacy be respected.

"Karen is at peace now and we know that she is in heaven looking down on us and helping us."

Sentencing 21-year-old Pacteau, Judge Lady Rae said she found it extremely difficult to find the words to describe his dreadful crimes.

Pacteau kept his head bowed throughout the brief sentencing hearing in Glasgow High Court this morning.

Dressed in a charcoal pinstriped suit, he appeared not to make eye contact with Karen Buckley's parents John and Marian who kept their composure throughout.

Sentencing Pacteau, Judge Lady Rae said that his remorse came too late.

She said that while she had to take into account his guilty plea, she was reducing the discount for that in view of his conduct after the killing - and the lengths he went to to hide the body, which she said caused the Buckley family great distress.

Sentencing him, Judge Lady Rae said: "I find it extremely difficult to find words appropriate to describe the dreadful crime to which you pleaded guilty...Within a matter of minutes, for some inexplicable reason, you destroyed her young life".

She said he had carried out a "brutal, motiveless attack on a defenceless young woman".

Hear her sentencing speech in full below:

Pacteau pleaded guilty to murdering Ms Buckley in his car, after giving her a lift outside a Glasgow nightclub in April.

Her disappearance sparked a city-wide manhunt which culminated four days after she disappeared, when her body was found on a remote farm.

Pacteau was led away to serve a minimum of 23 years, backdated to April this year, meaning the earliest he will be released will be in 2038.

Ms Buckley's parents left court without speaking to the media.