16-year-old boy sentenced to life for murdering 6-year-old girl / ITV
WARNING: Distressing content
A 16-year-old boy who abducted, raped and murdered six-year-old Alesha MacPhail has been jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 27 years in jail.
Aaron Campbell was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow last month where a jury found him guilty following anine-day trial.
He told a psychologist "all I thought about was killing her" when he walked in on Alesha sleeping in her bed on the Isle of Bute in Scotland, according to The Sun.
Alesha, 6, was raped and murdered and dumped in woods.
Alesha's body was found in woods on the Isle of Bute on July 2 last year, hours after she was reported missing from the house her father shared with his parents and partner on the island, the Daily Telegraph UK reports.
Campbell could not be identified during the trial due to his age but following his conviction the judge Matthews lifted a ban on revealing his identity.
In a rare move, a camera was allowed into court to film Campbell's sentencing. The court heard that he now admitted raping and murdering the schoolgirl, after denying it throughout his trial.
The judge told him his "vile" crimes had aroused "revulsion and disbelief", adding that he had violated and murdered the schoolgirl in the most brutal fashion. He warned him he may never be released.
Judge Matthews condemned Campbell's "staggering lack of remorse" and read out shocking details from background reports in which the killer claimed he had to "zip" his mouth to stop himself laughing during the trial. He also declared himself "quite satisfied" with the murder.
Robert MacPhail and his girlfriend Toni McLachlan with Alesha.
He took Alesha from the bed where she was sleeping and inflicted horrific injuries before dumping her body in woodland.
"You told him (the psychologist) that in the 12 months prior to the murder, you thought of doing something excessive, including rape," judge Matthews said.
"He records that when you saw Alesha, your reaction was according to you 'a moment of opportunity' … 'all I thought about was killing her once I saw her'.
Defending Queen's Counsel, Brian McConnachie said the teen had shown "traits on the psychopathy checklist" during the psychological profile.
There were screams of "f***ing paedo" after being sentenced to a minimum of 27 years behind bars.
When sentencing Campbell to life in prison judge Matthews said: "You had been drinking but wanted cannabis and broke into the house to get some. You returned to the house and entered Alesha's bedroom."
"You explained that after you murdered Alesha, you threw your clothes into the sea, had a shower, then returned to where you left her to retrieve your phone."
The judge continued: "Your attitude was clearly demonstrated by the evidence that you posted an image of yourself in the mirror while making a joke that you had found where the murderer was hiding.
"Your arrogance was breathtaking. Not once during the trial did I detect a flicker of emotion from you.
"At points during the trial you had to stop yourself from laughing, you had to tell yourself to zip it."
The pathologist John Williams told the trial she had 117 separate injuries, and a post-mortem examination indicated she had died from "significant and forceful pressure to her neck and face".
Aaron Campbell was arrested on 4 July last year, two days after the murder. Photo / Police Handout
As relatives wept in court, the judge revealed that Campbell told a psychologist that Alesha was drowsy when he carried her out of the house and asked who he was. He told her he was a friend of her father's and that he was taking her home.
The earlier trial heard that she was days into her summer holiday with father Robert MacPhail, 26, and grandparents Angela King and Calum MacPhail, when she was snatched by Campbell. All three, along with Alesha's mother, Georgina Lochrane, from Airdrie, were in court for the sentencing.
Ms Lochrane told the Daily Record she wanted to come face-to-face with Campbell in prison in an attempt to "get answers" from him.
She said: "I just want to know, why her? Why Alesha? I have questions that need answered and he is the only one who can answer them." She shouted at Campbell as he was led away, calling him a "vile little rat".
A victim impact statement on behalf of the victim's grandparents said there were "tortured and tormented" by her death, adding: "Alesha was a beautiful, smart, funny and kind girl. We are traumatised. We do not see how we can live a normal life. Her future was taken, and so was ours."
Campbell was caught after his mother Janette Campbell, 54, reported him to police in a bid to rule him out of the murder inquiry after she saw him on her own CCTV footage coming and going from their home on the night Alesha disappeared.
Alesha MacPhail's father Robert MacPhail and his girlfriend Toni Louise McLachlan appear outside Glasgow High Court. Photo / Getty Images
His DNA was found all over the schoolgirl's body. The killer, who said he had consumed a bottle and a half of wine that night, attempted during the trial to blame Toni McLachlan, the 18-year-old girlfriend of Alesha's father, for the murder.
The court was told before sentencing that the background reports on Campbell made "depressing" reading and that he presented a wide range of factors in terms of sexually harmful behaviour.
The judge said the reports painted a picture of a cold, callous and calculating individual, completely lacking in empathy. Campbell said the child was drowsy when he took her from bedroom and he told her he was a friend of her father and was "taking her home".
