Alesha MacPhail murder trial: what the court has heard
The 16-year-old suspect blames schoolgirl’s death on her father’s girlfriend
A 16-year-old boy has gone on trial accused of the rape and murder of six-year-old Alesha MacPhail on the Isle of Bute in July last year.
The schoolgirl, from Airdrie in Lanarkshire, “was found dead in the grounds of a disused hotel near her grandparents’ seafront home, close to the ferry port of Rothesay, where she had arrived a few days previously to spend a three-week summer break”, says The Guardian.
The suspect, who as a minor cannot be named, denies raping and murdering her, and attempting to hide evidence. He has lodged a special defence claiming the killing was committed by the girlfriend of Alesha’s father, Toni Louise McLachlan.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Prosecutors at the trial, in the High Court in Glasgow, allege that the teenage suspect took Alesha from her bed at her grandparents’ home in Rothesay after arming himself with a knife.
He then carried the young girl to the site of the former Kyles Hydropathic Hotel on the island, the court heard. There, he is alleged to have taken off her clothes and shaken her violently, “before placing his hands over her nose, mouth and around her neck”, reports the BBC.
Jurors were told that Alesha’s naked body was found by a man in the hotel grounds at around 9am on 2 July, hours after she was reported missing.
Prosecutor Iain McSporran said: “She had been murdered. Following a post-mortem examination of her remains, the cause of death was established as pressure to neck and face.”
‘On-off relationship’
Alesha’s father, Robert MacPhail, told the court that he had put Alesha to bed at around 10.30pm or 11pm on the night when she was allegedly taken. MacPhail, 26, said he then went back to the bedroom he shared with 18-year-old McLachlan, “where they ‘watched some porn’ before going to sleep”, reports Metro.
They were woken the following morning by his parents, who told them that Alesha was not in her bed.
McLachlan, who gave evidence from behind a screen, said that she and MacPhail had an “on-off relationship”.
When asked about the night before Alesha went missing, she said: “I loved her to pieces. I went through and gave her a kiss and a cuddle before she went to sleep.”
McLachlan later “broke down in tears as she denied ‘brutalising’ Alesha”, says the Daily Mirror.
McLachlan told the court: “I’m sad, I’m hurt, I’m angry. Especially when it’s somebody you love so much, but she knew I loved her.”
Father sold suspect cannabis
Alesha’s father has admitted doing “deals” with the 16-year-old suspect.
Identifying the accused in the courtroom, MacPhail told the jury: “I used to sell him cannabis.”
MacPhail, who is unemployed, said he had last sold him the drug a few months before Alesha’s murder.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - November 24, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - taped bananas, flying monkeys, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Spanish cop, 20 million euros and 13 tonnes of cocaine
In the Spotlight Óscar Sánchez Gil, Chief Inspector of Spain's Economic and Tax Crimes Unit, has been arrested for drug trafficking
By The Week UK Published
-
5 hilarious cartoons about the rise and fall of Matt Gaetz
Cartoons Artists take on age brackets, backbiting, and more
By The Week US Published
-
NHS tells Scots to walk like penguins
Tall Tales Walk like penguins in the snow, says NHS
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Woman solves 'rude neighbour' mystery
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Extreme ironing' blamed for Ben Nevis board
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Screaming Beatles fans embarrassed George Harrison’s mother
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
First crocodile virgin birth recorded
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Joggers told to wear helmets amid bird terror
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Woman who wrote children’s book on grief charged with murdering husband
Speed Read Eric Richins died last year after his wife, Kouri Richins, made him a spiked drink, authorities allege
By Arion McNicoll Published
-
Otter accused of killing relocated Loch Lomond beavers
Speed Read The dead beaver kits were moved from Tayside to RSPB Scotland reserve last month
By The Week Staff Published