A party. A joke. A flash of anger and a life ended.

THE DRINK was flowing, the music was loud and the mood was buzzing.

- BY JANE HAMILTON

It was a typical teenage house party atmosphere, everyone was boisterous and lively - until the night took a fatal turn.

Jolene Doherty, high on a cocktail of drink and drugs, plunged a kitchen knife into the neck of a boy she barely knew, killing him almost instantly.

Conner Cowper was just 18 when he was murdered in cold blood during a gathering at a flat in Holytown, Lanarkshire, in the early hours of April 28, 2018.

He had no warning, no chance to defend himself, and no idea he was about to cross paths with one of Scotland's youngest female killers.

Witnesses described the scene as chaotic.

There had been no argument, no scuffle, just a sudden eruption of violence from a teenager who seemed calm one moment and capable of murder the next.

Doherty, who was heavily pregnant at the time, had been drinking and taking cocaine before arriving at the flat. She was, by all accounts, in a volatile mood and fixated on confrontation.

Conner, who had been chatting with another guest and enjoying the party, allegedly made an offhand comment that she took offence to.

The court later heard he may have called her a “stupid wee girl”.

That was all it took.

Within seconds, Doherty had armed herself with a kitchen knife, walked up to the teenager and stabbed him in the neck with such force the blade cut through an artery and entered his spine.

Paramedics tried to save him but there was nothing they could do.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, a young life ended by a single, devastating blow.