WICKED PLOT
Boy, 16, claims he had sex with partner of victim’s dad then she set him up for murder
THE boy accused of the murder and rape of Alesha MacPhail claims he is the victim of a “wicked” plot to frame him.
The 16-year-old says he had sex with Alesha’s father’s partner – who then used a condom to plant his DNA on the little girl’s body.
He told a court he never met or knew the name of the six-year-old whose body was found last July.
A BOY has claimed to be the victim of an “extraordinarily wicked” plan to frame him for the murder and rape of Alesha MacPhail. The 16-year-old insisted he had never met or even knew the name of the six-year-old before her naked body was found last July 2. He told jurors yesterday: “I would never do something like that.” The teenager who cannot be named for legal reasons, pinned the blame on Toni McLachlan – the partner of Alesha’s dad Robert MacPhail. It is claimed she effectively “planted” evidence to fit up the teenager. The boy alleged he had sex with Toni on July 2 and that she must have taken a condom he used with her to put his DNA at the murder scene. But prosecutors instead stated it was the boy who “brutalised” Alesha. The 16-year-old claimed he met up with Toni in the early hours of that morning after she asked if he wanted to meet for a cigarette. He said he had previously had sex with Toni in late 2017– despite her being in a relationship with Alesha’s dad. The boy had also previously bought cannabis from Robert and Toni. He claimed he had started chatting with Toni that morning before having sex again in a lock-up garage. The boy told the trial: “She had a condom with her, so she gave me that.” He said they eventually went their “separate ways”. Alesha was found at 8.54am later that morning in the grounds of the former Kyles Hydro Hotel on Bute. The boy recalled getting a message from Toni that Robert’s “wee girl” was missing. The court was told again about a selfie-style video that he posted on Snapchat at the time stating: “Found who’s done it”. His QC Brian McConnachie asked: “Were you letting people know you were responsible?” He replied: “No, I did not even know at the time that there had been a murder. “People had been talking about who had done it. One of my friends had said my name and I did not want to take it to heart.” He also claimed a message in 2017 about “killing for the lifetime experience” was “not serious”. He said: “It would ruin your life if you killed someone... a stupid thing to do.” Mr McConnachie asked: “Did you have sex with Alesha?” The boy: “Absolutely not. “I have never met Alesha in person. I did not even know her name.” He claimed he could “speculate” as to why his DNA could be at the murder scene. The boy said: “I cannot think of any other way that it could get on Alesha...that Toni took the condom when I left and just went and killed Alesha.” Prosecutor Iain McSporran QC asked why Toni would want to implicate him in the murder. The boy: “To get away with it. Maybe she is mad at me for something.” Mr McSporran said: “So, she had murder in mind and would fit someone up. Someone, you say, she had sex with, someone she got on with. If that is right that makes her an extraordinarily wicked person?” The boy: “I agree.” Mr McSporran said Toni would have taken a “big risk” to have met him that morning before returning to the home she shared with Robert’s family to get Alesha.
The boy said: “I cannot think of how else she would have done it.” Mr McSporran: “Someone brutalised Alesha MacPhail. It is either you or Toni McLachlan.” But the boy replied: “Not me, absolutely not. I would never do something like that.”
The prosecutor said: “You murdered and raped her. The reason your DNA is all over is because you did it?” The teenager: “No.”
The trial was told the boy had been into lifting weights and was “strong”.
He told jurors how he could bench press 50kg. Mr McSporran put to him: “A wee girl of 22kg would be no bother for you to lift?”
The boy said: “I don’t think 50kg is that impressive, to be honest.”
The prosecutor: “Alesha was carried to where she died. Toni could not have carried her, could she? “You could have, couldn’t you?” The boy: “As I say, no idea. I have never carried weights for a distance before.”
The teenager was also quizzed about his movements around the time of the death. The court heard he initially told police he had been out in the early hours to buy cannabis.
But he claimed this was to avoid admitting having met Toni and having sex with her.
At one point, the boy told jurors: “I guess I am not very good at lying.”
Mr McSporran said: “You are doing yourself down there.”
The trial continues.