The identity of the teenage boy who raped and murdered six-year-old Aleshia MacPhail has been revealed. The judge who presided over the trial has lifted a ban on naming 16-year-old Aaron Campbell.
Judge Lord Matthews said: “I can’t think of a case in recent times that has attracted such revulsion.”
After hearing the legal argument on Friday, he said: “I intend to grant the application. The press may name the accused and publish images of him.”
Campbell is facing a life sentence after being found guilty of killing Alesha who went missing on July 2 2018.
Judge Lord Matthews told the killer he had stolen Alesha’s life by “committing some of the most wicked and evil crimes this court has ever heard of in decades of dealing with depravity”.
Campbell took Alesha from the bed where she was sleeping and inflicted “catastrophic” injuries before dumping her naked body in woodland.
Alesha’s body was found in a wooded area on the Isle of Bute on July 2nd 2018, the area was where a former Kyles Hydropathic Hotel on the island. The court heard how Alesha had suffered 117 injuries and died from significant pressure being applied to her face and neck. She was only days into the summer holidays when she was killed, she was staying at her grandparents’ house in Rothesay.
Brian McConnachie QC, representing Campbell, said Campbell had a history of anxiety and depression and had previously tested for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Media law lecturer Frank Shennan had earlier told BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme there had been a sense of anger at the killer being “protected”.
He said: “The reason for not naming under-18s is to protect what is seen as vulnerable people.
“And the reason for applying to have the ban lifted is a sense of outrage that somebody should be able to hide behind this protection when they have been found guilty of committing such a shocking crime.
“Ironically until three years ago, we could have named him because the rule applied to under 16s only and it was changed.”
Campbell showed no emotion when the verdict was read out.
The jury took three hours to return with the verdict. In a witness impact statement, Alesha’s mother Georgina Lochrane said her world had been ripped from her.
In a statement released after the verdict, Ms Lochrane, said: “Words cannot express just how devastated I am to have lost my beautiful, happy, smiley wee girl.
“I am glad that the boy who did this has finally been brought to justice and that he will not be able to inflict the pain on another family that he has done to mine.
“Alesha, I love you so much, my wee pal. I will miss you forever.”
Det Supt Stuart Houston said: “Alesha’s senseless and barbaric murder shocked the small community on Bute and people across Scotland. The effects of her death are still being felt today.”
He added: “Investigating any murder is challenging for all the police officers and staff involved. To be faced with the death of a little girl in such a cold and cruel way was extremely difficult for everyone.
“Crimes such as this are extremely rare and I am glad that we have been able to get justice for Alesha and her family.”
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