Six-year-old Alesha MacPhail's rapist and killer has jail term cut by three years as it was too 'excessive' for his age
The 17-year-old who brutally raped and murdered six-year-old Alesha MacPhail has had his sentence reduced on appeal, according to reports. Aaron Campbell is currently facing life imprisonment after abducting Aleshafrom her bed at night while she was sleeping on July 2 last year and inflicting horrific injuries on her before dumping her body in a woodland on the Isle of Bute, Scotland.
Campbell was charged with abducting, raping, and murdering the little girl.
Alesha MacPhail's mother, earlier this year in March, had 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 Campbell will be permitted to challenge his 27 years sentence.
The Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh, on Tuesday, reduced his 27-year minimum term to 24 years after hearing that it was "excessive" for his age, the Daily Mail reported. Campbell was 16-years-old when he committed the crime.
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 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.
Judge Lord Matthews, in March, had called the teen murderer a "cold, callous, calculating, remorseless and dangerous individual," sentencing him to life with a minimum of 27-year term. "You committed some of the wickedest most evil crimes this court has ever seen," he added. The teenager was reportedly a heavy drinker and cannabis user, who played violent computer games and was obsessed with the number of followers on his YouTube channel.
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."