Alesha MacPhail's mother slams court's decision to allow six-year-old's murderer to appeal his life sentence
Alesha MacPhail's mother, on Tuesday, slammed the court's decision to grant her six-year-old daughter's killer an appeal against his life sentence.
Georgina Lochrane has been "livid" after it was revealed that 17-year-old Aaron Campbell will be permitted to challenge his 27 years sentence. Campbell was charged with abducting, raping, and murdering the little girl.
Aaron Campbell is facing life imprisonment after abducting Alesha from her bed at night while she was sleeping on July 2 last year and inflicting horrific injuries on her before dumping her body in woodland.
The six-year-old, who had been visiting her grandparents at the time, was discovered hours after she was reported missing from the house. It was later found that little Alesha had suffered from 117 injuries before dying a gruesome death.
The ruthless murderer's identity had not been revealed until earlier in February this year because, according to Scottish law, people convicted of a criminal offense under the age of 18 cannot be identified.
However, multiple media organizations filed a petition with Judge Lord Matthews, who ultimately lifted the ban after deciding that this particular case was of exceptional gravity and that the public should know his identity.
The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service on Tuesday confirmed that Campbell has been granted leave to appeal against his prison sentence. His appeal is set to be heard later this summer.
The news has drawn a strong reaction from Alesha's mother, who posted a strongly worded message on Facebook calling Campbell a "rat" and asking for justice for her daughter.
"Still livid. Little f*****g runt how much more pain and hurt does this thing have to cause," 24-year-old Lochrane wrote. "Bring it on cause he won't be the one smirking this time."
Judge Lord Matthews, in March this year, had called the teen murderer a "cold, callous, calculating, remorseless and dangerous individual" and has sentenced him to life with a minimum of 27-year term.
Campbell's lawyer had admitted that the teen was "entertained" by the idea of rape and "enjoyed" killing the little girl.
The court, during the March hearing, heard that Campbell said he was "quite satisfied by the murder."
According to court sources, the teen has launched an appeal in an attempt to force Alesha's loved ones to listen to the harrowing details of her murder again, the Daily Mail reported.
"Wtf is up with our system even allowing that the time of f*****g day!!" Lochrane wrote on Facebook on Tuesday. "Am pretty sure they'll have read its social enquiry reports and how it's still getting this far is f*****g beyond me!! For the first time in 7 years the system was actually doing right by Alesha! Didn't last that did it. Give the rat nothing less and let me at it this time cause I will be ensuring there's no one sitting in f*****g front of me!!!"
"He shouldn't even be breathing the same air!! Never mind be allowed to go through this croc a f*****g s**t!" she added. "Anyway bring it on cause he won't be the one smirking this time. I actually thought for a second they were making up for all the failings they've caused Alesha over the years but clearly I thought wrong, still failing her. Now if it was one of theirs I guarantee you it wouldn't have 27 years and it wouldn't even be allowed to sniff the word appeal, never mind be accepted for it. Disgusting and wrong and they actually want to get a grip of themselves."
The mother of the slain 6-year-old also appealed to Facebook users to upload a picture of Alesha as their profile image in an effort to stand in solidarity with her.
"Now we need to make a stand and get justice for Alesha," the 24-year-old said who is determined to visit her daughter's murderer in jail and "look into his eyes and ask why."
A hearing date for Campbell's appeal against his sentence has been set for August 7 at the High Court in Edinburgh.