16-year-old ‘family friend’ of Alesha, 6, charged with her murder
A SCHOOLBOY appeared in court yesterday accused of raping and murdering six-year-old Alesha MacPhail in Scotland.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, is believed to have been a friend of the little girl’s family.
He was arrested two days after Alesha’s body was discovered in woodland near her grandparents’ home on the Isle of Bute.
He made no plea during a private appearance at Greenock Sheriff Court.
Details of how Alesha was killed have not been disclosed but the boy has been charged with murder and an offence under section 18 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, which covers the rape of a young child.
He was remanded in custody and will appear in court again later this month. On Thursday, Detective Superintendent Stuart Houston said Alesha’s family had shown ‘incredible bravery through what has been an unimaginable ordeal’. The six-year-old had been staying with her paternal grandparents Calum MacPhail, 49, and Angela King, 46, and father Robert MacPhail, 25, at a flat near the town of Rothesay. A search was launched after she was reported missing on Monday morning. Her body was found by a member of the public a few hours later.
The search soon became a murder investigation after a post mortem and the schoolboy was arrested on Wednesday. It came
Boy made no plea in court
after Alesha’s devastated mother travelled to Bute to visit the flat where her little girl was last seen. Georgina Lochrane, 23, broke down in tears as she read tributes left to her daughter nearby. She was supported by her boyfriend George Horn as she visited a shrine of flowers and teddies outside the seafront property.
Alesha lived in Lanarkshire with her mother, who is estranged from Mr MacPhail, but spent holidays and weekends with her father on Bute. Her murder has rocked the community, home to 6,500 people. It is the biggest investigation ever undertaken by police on the island, which is 24km long and 5km wide.
The last murder was eight years ago, when a man with serious mental health problems killed his mother. Yesterday an online fundraising page to raise money for Alesha’s family surpassed its target, two days after it was set up. The campaign was launched by islanders with a target of £5,000 but within 48 hours hundreds of donations took the total past £5,600.