The Catch-up: 16-year-old boy guilty of raping and murdering six-year-old Alesha MacPhail

What happened?

A 16-year-old boy has been found guilty of the abduction, rape and murder of six-year-old Alesha MacPhail on the Isle of Bute last July. The boy, who cannot be identified due to his age, snatched Alesha from her grandparents’ flat and took her to the grounds of a disused hotel were he raped and killed her. Her body was found in nearby woods a few hours after she went missing from the house her father shared with his parents on the island, where she was staying for part of the school holidays.

‘The most evil crimes this court has ever seen’

The jury unanimously found the boy guilty after a two-week trial during which a ‘mountain’ of forensic evidence against him was shown. His semen was found inside and on her body, and fibres from his trousers were found on her clothes. A coroner told the trial Alesha had ‘catastrophic’ injuries to her genitals, some of which were inflicted while she was still alive.

The boy maintained his innocence throughout the trial, claiming he ‘never met’ the little girl. He instead blamed Alesha’s death on Toni McLachlan, the girlfriend of Alesha’s father. The 16-year-old said he had sex with Ms McLachlan, who then planted his semen on Alesha’s body to frame him for the crime. He also claimed that Alesha’s father, Robert, was abusing Ms McLachlan. This defence was described as ‘preposterous’ by the prosecution and rejected by the jury.

The judge told the boy he had committed some of the ‘wickedest, most evil crimes this court has ever heard’ and deferred sentencing until March 21. As the accused was led downstairs a man in the public gallery shouted ‘evil’ and another said ‘f***ing scumbag’.

Read more about this story
Boy, 16, found guilty of the rape and murder of six-year-old Alesha MacPhail (The Telegraph)
Mother of Alesha MacPhail’s killer led police to his door (The Guardian)
‘Mountain of evidence’ against boy, 16 (Sky News)

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