STRATHCLYDE'S murder rate soared by 50%, with 60 murders in nine months last year.

Violent crime also soared with attempted murders rising to 296 and violent robberies increasing to 1627.

But behind the statistics lie heartache and misery for the victims' families.

Among the most high-profile cases were: POLISH student Angelika Kluk, 23, whose body was found in St Patrick's Church, Anderston, last September. Her sister Aneta, who lives in Glasgow, told how Angelika's death broke her heart. Peter Tobin, 60, has appeared in court in connection with the student's death. IN December, young dad Michael Lyons, 21, was murdered when two gunmen walked into an MOT garage in Glasgow's Lambhill and opened fire.

Michael's cousin Stephen Lyons, 26, and another man, Robert Pickett, 41, were seriously injured in the attack. The garage is owned by David Lyons, brother of Eddie Lyons, who ran the Chirnsyde Community Initiative in Milton. The community centre was closed by Glasgow city council bosses several days after the murder. A FATHER died after his son saw him being allegedly hacked with an axe. John Purcell, 40, died after a disturbance in Easterhouse, last September. IN August last year, George "Junior" Walker died after he was gunned down as he sat watching television in the living room of his family home in Castlemilk, Glasgow, with his pregnant sister, Nicola, 17 DAYS later, gangster George Goofy' Docherty, 46, was stabbed to death in Tollcross. Police arrested a 31-year-old man. IN May, the family of a 23-year-old man who died after being attacked near a city centre nightclub were left heartbroken. Colin McInnes, 23, from Hillhead, and a friend were attacked in the city centre.