Aaron Campbell (murderer)

Aaron Thomas Campbell was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, on 7 May 2002.

He moved to the Isle of Bute when he was four or five years old with his mother Janette, father Christopher, and a younger sister.

Campbell's upbringing included elements of physical and emotional abuse, and he often argued with his alcoholic mother.

He was tested for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and had a history of self harming and depression.

Campbell attended Rothesay Academy and was popular among his friends, with whom he regularly drank alcohol and attended parties.

He was fit and active, while also keen on gaming; he wished to be a YouTube star and posted several videos to the website.

When he was aged 15, Campbell began to consider "doing something excessive" such as rape.

In 2017, he sent a Facebook message saying that he "might kill 1 day for the lifetime experience".

He was entered into a rehabilitation programme when he was caught starting fires.

Campbell was acquainted with Robert MacPhail and Toni McLachlan, and claimed to have had a casual sexual relationship with McLachlan in the winter of 2017, although McLachlan denies this.

On 2 July 2018, six-year-old Scottish girl Alesha Sarah MacPhail was abducted from her bed and murdered by 16-year-old Aaron Campbell.

Alesha, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, was three days into a stay with her grandparents on the Isle of Bute when Campbell entered their unlocked home at approximately 02:00.

The teenager had previously bought cannabis from Alesha's father Robert, who lived in the house, and initially went to steal the drug.

Upon finding the child asleep, Campbell picked her up, carried her to the grounds of a demolished hotel, then raped and killed her by applying pressure to her face and neck.

Alesha was reported missing at 06:23 ; her body was discovered by a member of the public at 08:54.

Police Scotland charged Campbell with abduction, rape and murder on 5 July 2018.

She lived in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, with her mother Georgina Lochrane (aged 23 in 2018) and her younger sister Courtney (aged 4 in 2018).

She attended Chapelside School and had recently completed Primary Two at the time of her death.

She was described by her headteacher as a "smiley and happy young girl" who "loved being at school and enjoyed all aspects of literacy, in particular writing."

Her favourite activities included gymnastics and cake baking.

MacPhail's parents separated when she was three months old.

Her father Robert (aged 26 in 2018) lived in Rothesay, the principal town on the Isle of Bute, with his parents and his girlfriend Toni McLachlan (aged 17 in 2018).

Alesha would visit her father and grandparents every other weekend.

On 28 June 2018, at six years old, she joined her family in Rothesay for what was meant to be three weeks of the school summer break.

He purchased cannabis from the couple on multiple occasions, but these interactions ceased in early 2018 following a disagreement and intervention from Campbell's mother.

On 1 July 2018, three days into her summer visit, MacPhail was put to bed in her room at her grandparents' seafront home with a Peppa Pig DVD playing.

At around 23:00, McLachlan checked on the child and noticed that she was asleep.

The key was left in the front door, as was common in Rothesay.

The same evening, 16 year-old Campbell invited fifteen friends to his house, where he became drunk.

The party finished before midnight, but at 00:30 on 2 July, a friend returned and found Campbell in bed and "suicidal".

Campbell claimed, "I was quite upset as my mum had been arguing with me most of the night."

He denied any involvement and pleaded "not guilty" when his trial began on 11 February 2019.

He logged a "special defence of incrimination" by claiming that Robert's girlfriend, Toni McLachlan, was responsible for murdering the child and framing him.

Campbell was tied to the crime by CCTV footage, DNA, and fibres from his clothing, and the jury returned a guilty verdict after three hours of deliberation.

A ban on publicly naming Campbell was lifted following his conviction.

On 21 March 2019, he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 27 years; subsequently reduced to 24 years on appeal.

He confessed to the crime before his sentencing, adding that he was "quite satisfied with the murder".

The case generated a large amount of media interest in the United Kingdom, with the presiding judge Lord Matthews stating that he "could not think of a crime in recent times that has attracted such revulsion".

The perceived safety of the Isle of Bute contributed to the public's shock, while the young age of the culprit prompted discussion and debate around the nature of underage murderers.

Alesha MacPhail was born in Glasgow Royal Infirmary.