Smiling and giggling with her uncle in a touching final video
THE uncle of murdered schoolgirl Alesha MacPhail has released a moving video of the pair playing together as part of a tribute to his niece.
Calum MacPhail, 26, posted the minute-long clip on social media on Wednesday, the day before a teenage boy was charged in connection with the six-year-old’s killing on Bute.
The video shows Mr MacPhail, known as CJ, asking Alesha a string of questions while she plays with a bluecoloured substance.
He asks the youngster: ‘What’s that you’ve got?’ She replies: ‘Slime. Do you like slime?’
Alesha’s uncle is then seen tickling the little girl, who giggles with laughter.
Mr MacPhail, who works as a delivery driver for food takeaway service Uber Eats in Glasgow, published the clip on Facebook, along with a message thanking friends for their support.
He wrote: ‘Me and my family would like to thank you for your ongoing support.
‘I would also like to let you see what sort of lovely wee girl my niece was, and also what whoever has done this has taken from us.
‘I’m never gonna be able to have this much fun with Alesha again but at least I have this memory of her.
‘I would ask everyone to remember her like this, not just as a headline. There’s a lot more I want to say but I just can’t word it at this time.
‘Rest in peace, Alesha, I love you so much. Love, Uncle Calum.’
Since Alesha’s death on Monday, members of the island community have placed dozens of soft toys and flowers at the site of the police cordon at her grandparents home in Ardbeg, near Rothesay.
Church leaders held two memorial events on Tuesday to help family and friends to grieve.
Reverend John Owain Jones of the United Church of Bute said: ‘We are all trying to come to terms with it and hold the whole situation and everyone in it in our prayers.’
Retired teacher Jemima Spiers, 61, said: ‘It’s a right damn shame. I just couldn’t believe it when I heard she had gone missing.
‘I am really sorry for the parents and my heart goes out to them. I’m heartbroken for them and I just pray for them.
‘My husband came into the house and told me about it and I couldn’t believe it. Everyone I have met and spoken to here feels it is such a shame. She was only a baby. I have a grand- daughter myself who is nearly eight and she is my princess.
‘It’s sad for the whole community. Everybody here is sad.’
The Rothesay Coastguard team laid flowers at the family home, with a note saying: ‘Our deepest sympathy. Always in our thoughts.’
Tributes poured in online, with one person writing: ‘Such a beautiful girl, my heart is breaking just thinking about her.
‘Can’t imagine how the parents are feeling. Such a tragic loss.’
Alesha was a pupil at Chapelside Primary School in Airdrie, Lanarkshire.
In a statement, headteacher Wendy Davie has said: ‘Alesha started with us in August 2016 and had just finished Primary 2.
‘She loved being at school and enjoyed all aspects of literacy, in particular writing. She was such a perfectionist in her handwriting and was very proud of her work.
‘Alesha was very friendly and she welcomed everyone first thing in the morning at breakfast club. She was a very considerate child who loved being part of a group. She was popular with all the other children and was a smiley and happy young girl.
‘She was part of the family of Chapelside Primary and she will be greatly missed by everyone at the school. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and Chapelside Primary community at this very sad time.’
Flowers and toys have been left outside the school.
‘At least I have this memory of her’