Woman is accused of identifying alleged killer

A woman has been arrested for alleged contempt of court after being accused of identifying the teenager charged with Alesha Macphail’s murder on the Isle of Bute.

Police Scotland confirmed the 39-year-old woman had been charged over the alleged identification of the 16-year-old boy charged with the rape and murder of six-year-old Alesha.

The identification is alleged to have been made through social media posts.

Police and the Crown Office have previously put out legal warnings about identifying the teenager.

The arrest comes after Alesha’s mother said her daughter would be “looking down with that big glowing smile” at those who tried to help her.

Alesha was on holiday when she was reported missing from her grandparents’ home on Bute in the Firth of Clyde last Monday.

Her body was later found in woodland. Mother Georgina Lochrane posted: “I would like to thank each and every single one of yous of the Isle of Bute for everything youhavedoneformineand Robert’s darling daughter. She will be looking down with that big massive glowing smile of hers.”