The teenager who abducted, raped and murdered a six-year-old girl has had his 27-year sentence minimum sentence reduced. Aaron Campbell was 16 when he was sentenced to life for the murder of Alesha MacPhail on the Isle of Bute.
In August, his lawyer told the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh that the term was unnecessary because of his age. Three judges ruled that his sentence should be cut by three years, this means he his minimum time to be served is 24.
Explaining their ruling, the three judges said: “We have concluded that a punishment part of 24 years would be appropriate to reflect the appellant’s youth.
“We will accordingly allow the appeal to the extent of substituting that period for the sentence imposed.”
They added: “As with all punishment parts, this is not an indication of the date when the appellant will be released.
“It specifies rather the period which must pass before the appellant may even apply for parole.
“As the trial judge had observed – ‘whether (the appellant) will ever be released will be for others to determine, but as matters stand a lot of work will have to be done to change (the appellant) before that could be considered – it may even be impossible’.”
Campbell will still serve what is the longest term of detention to be given on a juvenile offender in Scotland.
Psychologist Dr Gary Macpherson concluded: “I am of the view that the capacity for change may be limited due to the nature of Aaron Campbell’s personality structure and his complex risk factors.
“I apologise to the court for appearing pessimistic, however, I am not confident that Aaron Campbell has the capacity or desire to change his behaviour in any meaningful way and as such the risks will remain for the foreseeable future.”
During the trial, Campbell said he was “quite satisfied by the murder”.
Alesha MacPhail
Alesha has been staying with her family on Bute during her summer holidays, it was here when she was attacked and killed by Campbell. She was taken from her bed on July 2nd last year and her body was found the following morning at a former hotel ground with 117 injuries.
