Boy, 16, who raped and murdered 6 year old Alesha MacPhail Pictured for first time

The identity of the boy who raped and murdered 6-year-old Alesha MacPhail has finally been revealed to be Aaron Campbell.

The murder of MacPhail was described by a judge as one of the “wickedest, most evil crimes this court has ever heard”. Her body was found in woods on the Isle of Bute on July 2 2018, hours after she was reported missing from the house her father shared with his parents and girlfriend on the Island.

Alesha’s body had 117 separate injuries, and a post-mortem examination indicated she had died from “significant and forceful pressure to her neck and face,” pathologist John Williams told the court. He agreed the injuries to her private parts were “catastrophic”, more severe than any he had ever seen before, and were at least partially inflicted while she was still alive.

Campbell, who will be sentenced on March 21, took Alesha from the bed where she was sleeping and inflicted horrific injuries before dumping her body in woodland.

Initially, he denied being responsible and accused Alesha’s father’s girlfriend. He said he had “never met Alesha MacPhail in person” and denied abducting, raping and murdering her. But a jury at the High Court in Glasgow took three hours to find the teenager guilty unanimously on Thursday, February 21, 2019, following a nine-day trial.

Aaron’s lawyers had tried to block him being named  but Lord Matthews allowed him to be named, saying: “I can’t think of a case in recent times that has attracted such revulsion.”

In a statement issued by Police Scotland, Alesha’s family said: “We can’t believe that we will never see our wee angel Alesha again. We miss her so much. We hope that the boy who took her from us is jailed for a long time because of what he has done to our family.”

After being convicted, as he was being led downstairs, a man in the public gallery shouted “evil” and another said “f**king scumbag”.

Alesha’s mother, Georgina 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.”

Aaron will be sentenced next month and risks being sentenced to life in prison.