BOY, 16 , CLAIMS WOMAN KILLED ALESHA
Court hears shocking rape & murder charges
A TEENAGE boy yesterday denied raping and murdering six-year-old Alesha MacPhail on the Isle of Bute – and blamed a young woman for the crime.
Lawyers for the 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the High Court in Glasgow the crime was committed by Toni Louise McLachlan.
A BOY yesterday went on trial accused of raping and murdering a six-year-old girl – then showering himself to wash off the evidence.
The 16-year-old, who can’t be named for legal reasons, is charged with killing Alesha MacPhail on the Isle of Bute in July last year.
It emerged the teenager is blaming a young woman for the crime, with his legal team, led by QC Brian McConnachie, lodging a special defence on his behalf at the High Court in Glasgow.
It is claimed the crime was committed not by the boy but by Toni Louise McLachlan.
Prosecutors allege the male was armed with a knife when he took Alesha from her bed at a house in Ardbeg Road in Rothesay, Bute. It is claimed he carried the girl to the site of the former Kyles Hydropathic Hotel on the isle.
The indictment states he took off Alesha’s clothes, shook her violently before placing his hands over her nose, mouth and around her neck.
The boy is said to have “applied pressure” to her face and inflicted injuries by “means unknown”, with prosecutors alleging he went on to rape and murder Alesha.
The teenager also faces a charge of trying to defeat the ends of justice. It is alleged he went to another house in Ardbeg Road before disposing of his clothes then taking a shower to remove blood from his body to “destroy or conceal evidence”.
Prosecutor Iain McSporran QC read out evidence agreed between the Crown and the boy’s lawyers.
Jurors were told Alesha’s naked body was found at 8.54am on July 2. She was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later.
McSporran said: “She had been murdered. Following a post-mortem, the cause of death was established as ‘pressure to neck and face’.”
The trial continues.