Man jailed for life for Paige Chivers murder

“This sentence clearly reflects the cold and callous nature of this murder. Paige was an extremely vulnerable 15 year old girl who was targeted and groomed by Ewing to feed his sexual motivation.

“Cases that start as a missing person enquiry and end as a homicide investigation are notoriously difficult to investigate and prosecute. In this case it was compounded by the fact that we have never recovered Paige’s body. Over the eight years the enquiry team has had to piece together the evidence generated from over 8,100 actions and 29,000 documents.

“We have established beyond any doubt what happened to Paige and who killed her. This has been a challenging and complex case for all of those involved. For nearly eight years we have worked tirelessly to bring Paige’s killer to justice and today’s sentence represents the culmination of that investigation.”

“At the time of her disappearance Paige had very little stability in her life and Robert Ewing took advantage of this. He was a middle-aged man who befriended her, not for any charitable reasons, but because he had an inappropriate sexual interest in her.

“Neither of the defendants has ever shown any remorse and over the years since Paige went missing they have done everything they could to cover their tracks, to divert enquiries away from them and try to put the blame on other people.

“Because Paige’s body has never been found this has been a very complex case, firstly to prove that Paige was dead, not just missing, and then to prove that Robert Ewing murdered her.

“My sincere sympathies are with the family of Paige Chivers. Despite the outcome today the trial has been a difficult and painful time for them. I hope they can take some comfort in knowing that Robert Ewing and Gareth Dewhurst have now received justice.”

At the time of her disappearance Paige had very little stability in her life and Robert Ewing took advantage of this. He was a middle-aged man who befriended her, not for any charitable reasons, but because he had an inappropriate sexual interest in her. Although we will never know the exact circumstances, the jury in delivering their guilty verdict have found that soon after Paige went missing he killed her in his flat. Gareth Dewhurst knew about the murder and helped Robert Ewing dispose of her body. Neither of the defendants has ever shown any remorse and over the years since Paige went missing they have done everything they could to cover their tracks, to divert enquiries away from them and try to put the blame on other people. Robert Ewing in particular has attempted to lay false trails and obstruct the police investigations through a series of concocted explanations about the evidence. The CPS and the police have remained determined throughout to uncover the truth and to bring justice for Paige. We have worked closely from the outset of this investigation, painstakingly piecing together hundreds of items of evidence and hundreds of witness statements to build a strong case and enable the jury to see through the defendants’ lies.
Because Paige’s body has never been found this has been a very complex case, firstly to prove that Paige was dead, not just missing, and then to prove that Robert Ewing murdered her. My sincere sympathies are with the family of Paige Chivers. Despite the outcome today the trial has been a difficult and painful time for them. I hope they can take some comfort in knowing that Robert Ewing and Gareth Dewhurst will now receive justice.