Woman killed in 'brutal' attack

Moira Jones had lived in the Queens Park area for five years

Police investigating the death of a woman whose body was found in a Glasgow park said she was subjected to a "brutal and violent" attack.

Moira Jones, 40, who lived nearby, was found by a ranger in Queen's Park at about 0945 on Thursday morning.

Some items of her clothing had been removed. Police have not ruled out a sexual motive for the attack.

Detectives confirmed she had been murdered following a post-mortem examination carried out on Friday.

Members of Ms Jones' family have been informed and are understood to be travelling to Glasgow.

She was described as a respectable business woman who worked as a sales consultant for Britvic.

Originally from England, she had lived in the Southside's Queens Drive for five years.

Police are still trying to establish a motive for the killing and are keen to find out where Ms Jones was in the hours prior to her body being discovered.

'Painstaking examination'

The park is currently closed and cordoned off to allow forensic teams to conduct their investigation. It is not known when it will re-open.

Police have set up an incident room at nearby Cathcart police station.

An incident caravan has also been sited at Queen's Park Gates at Victoria Road and Queen's Drive.

The officer in charge of the investigation, Det Ch Insp Derek Robertson, appealed for anyone with information on the killing to come forward.

He said: "You can imagine with such an attack, a brutal attack on a young woman, that the quicker we identify the person responsible the better.

"I would ask other members of the public who walk their dog or pass through Queen's Park if they have any information whatsoever, no matter how small, it would be an advantage to the inquiry team."

He added: "I have no doubt that someone knows who did this and, perhaps, through misguided loyalty is shielding this person.

"The sexual motive, the violent motive, nothing is being ruled out at this time."

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Police have appealed for help from the public

An experienced team of detectives has been assembled and a major inquiry is under way.

Police revealed that garments had been removed from the victim's body but she was not naked.

Some items may have also been stolen from the victim, they said.

Several important lines of inquiry were being followed, Mr Robertson said, and a major area of investigation was to retrieve CCTV footage.

Park 'safe'

Kenny Boyle, head of parks at Glasgow City Council, said there was "shock" among officials over the murder.

"Incidents like this in parks are extremely rare," he said.

"You can imagine almost the disbelief. It is a terrible tragedy for the family."

Ch Insp Stewart Carle also sought to reassure members of the public that the park was safe.

Additional foot and bicycle patrols were in place around the area, he said.

"Thousands of people use Queen's Park every week. On busy days there can be over 1,000 per day.

"In the last 13 months there have only been 60 incidents reported leading to 30 arrests."

These were all of a trivial nature, he added.

And he said: "People should be reassured that they can return to that park once it's open again. It's a safe place to visit."