16-year-old boy guilty of abduction, rape and murder of six-year-old Alesha MacPhail

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 jury returned the verdict after a two-week trial at Glasgow Crown Court.

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.

A coroner told the trial Alesha had ‘catastrophic’ injuries to her genitals, some of which were inflicted while she was still alive.

The jury took three hours to find the teenager unanimously guilty.

The court was presented with a ‘mountain’ of forensic evidence linking the teenage boy to the murder, including his semen inside and on her body, and fibres from his trousers on her clothes.

He had denied any involvement in the murder and throughout the trial blamed Alesha’s death on Toni McLachlan, the girlfriend of Alesha’s father Robert MacPhail.

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.

Asked about the attack, the killer said: “I’ve never met Alesha MacPhail in person. I didn’t even know her name until everything that happened.”

This defence was described as ‘preposterous’ by the prosecutor Iain McSporran QC and was rejected by the jury.

Judge Lord Matthews told the boy he had committed some of the ‘wickedest, most evil crimes this court has ever heard’.

He deferred sentence until March 21.

As the accused was led downstairs a man in the public gallery shouted ‘evil’ and another said ‘f***ing scumbag’.

Her mother, Georgina Lochrane, 24, said: “Words cannot express just how devastated I am to have lost my beautiful, happy, smiley wee girl.

“I am glad that the boy who did this has finally been brought to justice and that he will not be able to inflict the pain on another family that he has done to mine.

“Alesha, I love you so much, my wee pal. I will miss you forever.”