ALESHA: ACCUSED TEEN’S DNA ‘FOUND ON BODY’
A TEENAGER accused of raping and murdering a six-year-old girl claims he lost his clothes in the sea after a court heard his DNA was recovered from the waistband of jogging trousers found on the shore.
The 16-year-old boy said boxer shorts and jogging trousers shown to the jury at the High Court in Glasgow were lost on June 29, 2018.
He denies abducting, raping and murdering Alesha MacPhail on the Isle of Bute last July, as well as attempting to hide evidence.
Giving evidence, the teenager said he had been jumping into the water from a pier by himself.
He said: “Once I’d finished drying myself, I went to pick my trousers up but I wasn’t fast enough and they just went into the sea.”
Earlier, the court heard the clothing was found on the shoreline by a dog walker and recovered by police – days after Alesha’s body was found in woods on the Isle of Bute on July 2 last year.
Forensic scientist Stuart Bailey earlier told the court semen from the accused was found inside Alesha.
The schoolgirl was reported missing shortly after 6am on July 2.
Semen
Her body was found hours later in a wooded area on the island.
The accused teenager has lodged a special defence of incrimination, blaming Toni McLachlan – the girlfriend of Alesha’s father Robert MacPhail – for the killing.
Giving evidence last Wednesday, Ms McLachlan denied being responsible for her death, saying she “loved” Alesha.
Ms McLachlan also denied suggestions by the defence that she had sex with the accused on July 2, then planted his semen on Alesha, before “attacking and brutalising her” and murdering her.
The trial, before judge Lord Matthews, continues.