Aaron Campbell

The trial began on 11 February 2019, presided over by Judge Lord Matthews. The court was shown CCTV footage, from cameras installed by Campbell's mother, that captured the defendant leaving his house at 01:54 on 2 July, returning at 03:35, then leaving and returning again for two short periods before 04:07. Additional CCTV footage, supplied by members of the public, showed an individual walking along the shoreline at 02:25 and 02:26, appearing to carry something in his arms. Pathologist Dr John Williams testified that MacPhail's feet were clean and uninjured, suggesting she had been carried.

On 10 September 2019, Campbell successfully appealed his sentence, reducing the minimum term from 27 years to 24 years; meaning he will be eligible to apply for parole when he is 40. Three judges ruled that the original sentence had been excessive for his age, but they did not dispute Lord Matthews' suggestion that the appellant may never be released. Campbell is imprisoned at HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont, and will be moved to an adult prison when he turns 21.

On 2 July 2018, six-year-old Scottish girl Alesha MacPhail (born 22 October 2011) was abducted from her bed and murdered by 16-year-old Aaron Campbell. Alesha, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, was three days into a stay with her grandparents on the Isle of Bute when Campbell entered their unlocked home at approximately 02:00. The teenager had previously bought cannabis from Alesha's father Robert, who lived in the house, and initially went to steal the drug. Upon finding the child asleep, Campbell picked her up, carried her to an abandoned hotel, then raped and killed her by applying pressure to her face and neck. Alesha was reported missing at 06:23, and her body was discovered by a member of the public at 08:54.

Police Scotland charged Campbell with abduction, rape and murder on 5 July 2018. The teenager denied any involvement, and pleaded "not guilty" when his trial began on 11 February 2019. He logged a "special defence of incrimination" by claiming that Robert MacPhail's girlfriend, Toni McLachlan, was responsible for murdering the child and framing him. Campbell was tied to the crime by CCTV footage, DNA, and fibres from his clothing, and the jury returned a guilty verdict after three hours of deliberation. A ban on publicly naming Campbell was lifted following his conviction. On 21 March 2019, he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 27 years; subsequently reduced to 24 years on appeal. He confessed to the crime before his sentencing, adding that he was "quite satisfied with the murder."

MacPhail's parents separated when she was three months old. Her father Robert (aged 26 in 2018) lived in Rothesay, the principal town on the Isle of Bute, with his parents and his girlfriend Toni McLachlan (aged 17 in 2018). Alesha would visit her father and grandparents every other weekend. On 28 June 2018, at six years old, she joined her family in Rothesay for what was meant to be three weeks of the school summer break.

On 1 July 2018, three days into her summer visit, Alesha was put to bed in her room at her grandparents' seafront home with a Peppa Pig DVD playing. At around 23:00, McLachlan checked on the child and noticed that she was asleep. The key was left in the front door, as was common in Rothesay.

A postmortem examination was conducted on 3 July 2018. The autopsy concluded that MacPhail received 117 injuries, some of which were caused while she was alive and some of which may have been caused by vegetation. Injuries to her neck and face indicated that she had been gripped, while injuries to her nose and mouth indicated that she had been smothered. Her genitalia sustained "catastrophic" injuries. The pathologist determined her death to be "the result of significant forceful pressure to her neck and face”.

Campbell appeared at the High Court in Glasgow on 10 December 2018 for indictment proceedings. He entered a "not guilty" plea to the charge of abducting, raping, and murdering Alesha MacPhail. A trial was set for February 2019, with Iain McSporran QC acting as prosecutor and Brian McConnachie QC acting as Campbell's defence advocate. A second charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice was dropped during the trial. Because he was younger than 18, the media were banned from reporting Campbell's name for the duration of the trial.

Janette Campbell confirmed that several items recovered from the beach after MacPhail's death – a fleece jacket, jogging bottoms, boxer shorts, a t-shirt, and a kitchen knife – belonged to her son and came from her kitchen. Fibres from the trousers were found on MacPhail's discarded pyjamas, and Forensic scientist Stuart Bailey testified that DNA matching the accused was found on the beach clothing. He further confirmed that a DNA sample taken from MacPhail's neck had a billion-to-one chance of coming from anybody but Campbell. DNA matches were also found on MacPhail's face, 14 parts of her body, and some of her clothing. A cybercrime expert told the court that on 3 July 2018, Campbell used his phone to Google search "How do police find DNA", then visited a webpage titled "Collecting DNA evidence". A 16-year-old girl testified that hours after MacPhail's body was discovered, Campbell filmed himself in a Snapchat video, sent to a group of 25 people, with the words "Found the guy who has done it."

A candle-lit vigil for MacPhail was held in Rothesay shortly after her murder. The six-year-old's funeral took place in Coatbridge on 21 July 2018, attended by hundreds of mourners. She was buried in Coltswood Cemetery. On 25 May 2019, a pink memorial bench was unveiled on the Rothesay promenade. On 20 June, nearly a year after her death, MacPhail's primary school opened a playhouse built in her memory, decorated with artwork designed by the pupils. It was funded with £22,000 donated by the public. MacPhail's family attended a memorial service at the school that included a song and poem written for Alesha.

Campbell's upbringing included elements of physical and emotional abuse, and he often argued with his alcoholic mother. He was tested for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and had a history of self harming and depression. He attended Rothesay Academy and was popular among his friends, with whom he regularly drank alcohol and attended parties. He was fit and active, while also keen on gaming; he wished to be a YouTube star and posted several videos to the website. When he was aged 15, Campbell began to consider "doing something excessive" such as rape. In 2017, he sent a Facebook message saying that he "might kill 1 day for the lifetime experience". He was entered into a rehabilitation programme when he was caught starting fires.

Campbell was acquainted with Toni McLachlan and Robert MacPhail, and claims to have had a casual sexual relationship with McLachlan in the winter of 2017. He purchased cannabis from the couple on multiple occasions, but these interactions ceased in early 2018 following a disagreement and intervention from Campbell's mother.

—Fiona Dyer of the Interventions for Vulnerable Youth Project, Strathclyde University

The trial lasted nine days. The jury deliberated for three hours before giving a unanimous guilty verdict on 21 February. Lord Matthews described the evidence against Campbell as "overwhelming", and stated that the teenager had committed "some of the most wicked and evil crimes this court has ever heard of in decades of dealing with depravity". Campbell remained emotionless upon hearing his conviction. A group of media outlets made a legal bid for the teenager to be publicly identified, arguing that this transparency was in the public interest. Following the trial, Lord Matthews agreed to reverse the naming restriction – a first in Scottish history – due to the "unique" nature of the case.

Before the suspect was confirmed to be a local boy, rumours surfaced on social media – spearheaded by the right wing commentator Katie Hopkins – that the culprit was one of the Syrian refugees housed on the island in 2015. Hopkins was condemned for making the implication without any evidence; Michael Russell MSP described the comments as "an awful, divisive, hate-filled lie", and Alan Smith of The Herald wrote that MacPhail's "tragic death was being used to further the cause of the far-right".

Alesha Sarah MacPhail was born in Glasgow Royal Infirmary on 22 October 2011. She lived in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, with her mother Georgina Lochrane (aged 23 in 2018) and her younger sister Courtney (aged 4 in 2018). She attended Chapelside School and had recently completed Primary Two at the time of her death. She was described by her headteacher as a "smiley and happy young girl" who "loved being at school and enjoyed all aspects of literacy, in particular writing." Her favourite activities included gymnastics and cake baking.

Aaron Thomas Campbell was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, on 7 May 2002. He moved to the Isle of Bute when he was four or five years old with his mother Janette, father Christopher, and younger sister.

MacPhail's murder received significant media attention in the United Kingdom: the presiding judge stated that he "could not think of a crime in recent times that has attracted such revulsion". The level of public outrage led to comparisons with the 1993 murder of James Bulger. Initial reports emphasised the unlikelihood of the crime occurring on the small Isle of Bute, which was once a popular tourist destination for Scotland's city dwellers. The local reverend Owain Jones commented, "Bute is one of these places that is incredibly safe, you take all sorts of things for granted here". At the time of the trial he acknowledged the lasting shock within the community, adding that "nothing feels the same". The revelations of casual teenage drinking, sex, and drug use on the island were also a source of surprise; Libby Brooks of The Guardian wrote that the MacPhail trial revealed "the reality of life on Bute beyond the picture postcard", where the population is declining and deprivation growing. Local young people were offered counselling services to help them deal with the repercussions of the case.