Teen who raped and murdered Alesha MacPhail, 6, lodges appeal against life sentence
The teen killer of Alesha MacPhail who was sentenced to life in prison this past February over the six-year-old's horrific July 2018 murder has reportedly lodged an appeal to have his sentence reduced.
According to the Daily Mail, the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS) confirmed that 16-year-old Aaron Campbell, who denied committing the murder throughout his nine-day trial, has lodged an appeal against his sentence that will require him to serve at least 27 years behind bars before becoming eligible for parole.
Alesha, from Airdrie, Lanarkshire, was first reported missing on July 2 last year while she was visiting her grandparents' home on the Isle of Bute. She reportedly was taken from her bed to a nearby woodland, where she was raped and murdered.
Her body was found just two hours after she was reported missing, with an autopsy finding that she had suffered as many as 117 injuries in total, including some that were incurred possibly after her death. It was also suspected that the attacker had violently shaken or gripped her head.
Following an investigation by the Scottish law enforcement, Campell was arrested and charged with rape, murder, child abduction, as well as other offenses.
He consistently denied committing the crime, even lodging a special defense of incrimination against Toni McLachlan, the partner of Alesha's dad Robert MacPhail, claiming it was she who murdered Alesha.
However, a nine-day trial saw all the grisly details of the murder laid out at the Glasgow High Court, with graphic images of the murder scene also presented. A jury eventually found him guilty unanimously for Alesha's death on February 21.
During his subsequent sentencing in March, it was revealed how he had spent a year fantasizing doing something "excessive, including rape" and how, a few days after the murder, he had been "mildly amused" that the police had not apprehended him yet.
The court was also told he had confessed to social workers that he was "satisfied" with the murder and had to "zip my mouth shut" during the trial to stop himself from laughing.
Delivering the sentence of life in prison, Judge Lord Matthews described Campbell as a "cold, callous, calculating, remorseless and dangerous individual."
He acknowledged the "long-lasting" impact the crime would have on those involved in the case and the small community in the island of Bute and told the 16-year-old it was "symptomatic of your staggering lack of remorse."
Judge Matthews ruled that Campbell would be eligible for parole after spending 27 years behind bars, but warned he may never be released, saying, "Whether you will ever be released will be for others to determine, but as matters stand a lot of work will have to be done to change you before that could be considered. It may even be impossible."