The mother of murdered Paige Doherty has branded the reduction of her killer's jail term as an "insult" to her daughter.

Pamela Munro spoke out after the recent reduction in the minimum prison term John Leathem will serve for murdering the 15-year-old.

The killer inflicted more than 146 injuries on the teenager in his sandwich shop in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, in March last year before he moved her body in bin bags to the boot of his car.

He was jailed for life with a minimum of 27 years by Lady Rae after the High Court in Glasgow heard of how the father-of-two disposed of Paige's body in a wooded area next to Great Western Road.

Last week, appeal court judge Lord Turnbull reduced Leathem's jail term to 23 years before he can apply for parole.

On Friday, Ms Munro told STV News she felt the decision was an "insult to Paige's life and death" and a "kick in the teeth" for her family.

In his appeal judgment, Lord Turnbull accepted Leathem's argument that his sentence was "excessive" when compared to other murders felt to be "significantly more serious" than the schoolgirl's death.

Ms Munro stated: "When I got the phone call and I was speaking to the lady and she was telling me, I was just thinking to myself: 'How can that happen?'

"How can somebody justify killing a child as brutally as he killed Paige and say: 'It's not as bad as this, or as bad as that so we're going to reduce it?'

"And they add in that [Leathem is] a family man and he's never offended before. That just makes it worse. It shows how unpredictable he really is - so make an example of him."

Earlier this week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told Holyrood she would "feel exactly the same" as Paige's family after the appeal outcome.

Cases cited by Leathem's legal team in his appeal include Tanveer Ahmed, the murderer of Shawlands shopkeeper Asad Shah; Alexander Pacteau, who murdered Irish student nurse Karen Buckley, and the two men convicted of murdering three members of the Sharkey family in Helensburgh.

On the back of the court findings, Ms Munro has called for tougher sentences for those found guilty of murdering children.

Ms Munro said: "I would like higher sentencing tariffs. I think they need to set a minimum punishment part when it comes to excessive killing, such as child killers. I think it needs to be a minimum of 35 years.

"At least if they do appeal it and it is being brought down it is not being brought down any lower than 35 - so it's not a kick in the teeth to you, so it's not an insult.

"Although, in our eyes, nothing is ever going to be high enough for taking our wee girl's life - there's no number on that which could be high enough. But they need to make a minimum."

Leathem stabbed the defenceless teenager at least 61 times when she stopped for a breakfast roll at the Delicious Deli on Fleming Avenue in Clydebank on March 19 last year.

Despite claims he was in "a panic", he cleaned up his crime and dumped Paige's body in bushes two days later.

In Scotland, sentences are decided by individual judges who are independent and allocate punishment under the guidance of legislation, as well as the exact circumstances of each case.

The Scottish Sentencing Council, which was established in 2015, acts as an advisory body and prepares guidelines for the courts.

In relation to the comments made by Paige's mother, a spokesman for the body said: "The Scottish Sentencing Council's business plan sets out its work programme for 2015-18 and it is currently preparing its first guideline, on the fundamental 'principles and purposes' of sentencing for all offences.

"The council welcomes views from interested organisations and individuals on what guidelines it should prepare in the future, and what topics may benefit from further research."

Ms Munro said her family is hopeful its efforts for heavier jail terms will benefit other families in the future.

She added: "That's all we've got now, that's all we can do, is push forward and hope we can help families in the future because it's not going to help us.

"Paige hasn't got justice. We've not got justice for our wee girl. I fully believe if somebody who commits the crime can get an appeal, then the victim should have that option as well.

"If that person can come up with a reason as to why it shouldn't be reduced, they should be heard.

"This could happen to anybody's family. Anybody could go through this at any point. A year ago I wouldn't have thought I'd be facing the one-year anniversary of my wee girl's murder."

Paige's mother concluded: "It's hard to know that that is it for life, that she is gone."