UK - Alesha MacPhail, 6, raped & murdered, Ardbeg, Isle of Bute, Scotland, 2 Jul 2018 -*arrest* #3

[HayLouise]

11:14

'Nothing can be drawn from accused's "no comment" response' - judge

The judge says nothing can be drawn from the teenager’s “no comment” response during his police interview.

The boy denies abducting, raping and murdering Alesha, who was six years old.

The trial continues.

Alesha MacPhail jurors to be sent out in teenage boy's murder trial

 

[Pooksthebear]

It sounds to me like he wants a fair trial and not a lynch mob

Yes I agree.. I’m so nervous I’m taking it the wrong way

 

[The Equaliser]

That was so quick

Hmmmmm....very quick!

 

[HayLouise]

11:18

Jury sent out

The jury has been sent out in the Alesha MacPhail murder trial.

Alesha MacPhail jurors to be sent out in teenage boy's murder trial

 

[embro68]

I think I’m just nervous and seeing what isn’t there. Just the judge saying think of the reason why he lied to the police, and don’t draw conclusions from no comment. I guess he has to mention them things

Yeah he has to mention those things, he has to be impartial and in someways its irrelevant what he thinks, but a bias judge doesnt help a case.

 

[Taskforce88]

I think I’m just nervous and seeing what isn’t there. Just the judge saying think of the reason why he lied to the police, and don’t draw conclusions from no comment. I guess he has to mention them things

He said don't draw conclusions because he could have lied to stop getting into trouble for something else, e.g. drugs etc

 

[Sp45westie]

Sounds to me like the judge believes the accused’s story!

The judge is following the law as he should be in a fair trail and lettting the jury know what they can can and can not take into account

 

[Pooksthebear]

And now we wait ..

 

[Coconutmilk]

And now we wait ..

Oh I hope it’s fast - although we should have a verdict by the weekend

 

[Junothecat]

Yes, he will remain anonymous, at least until he is 18 - possibly longer ( the Scottish folk on here would know better than me )
As to whether they could report more about the case. Difficult to do that without giving more clues to his identity, so I would say it won't be allowed.
If he is found not guilty/not proven then he is obviously free to resume his life in the community. I tend to think that there would still be an anonymity clause in place, to protect him - because if he is freed, then there is no facility ( far as I understand it ) for him to be provided with a new identity/place to live etc. So anonymity from the press would be important.

Thank you, Alyce. That's really helpful.

Given the strong feelings surrounding this case, the fact that a lot of people seem to know exactly who the accused is (despite strenuous attempts by the courts to make sure this doesn't prejudice a fair trial), where he lives and also quite a lot about his family circumstances (which might conceivably expose other family members, including minors, to undesirable public attention) - and given that the internet makes all these things much harder to enforce than back in the good old days of print and broadcast journalism - the courts will have their work cut out for them!

 

[embro68]

Curious to what people's thoughts are about the charge of defeating the ends of justice being dropped?
I get they dropped it due to lack of evidence, but by doing so are they giving the jury a reason not to convict?
What I mean is that if he hasn't tried to cover his tracks so to speak then how has he commited the crime without leaving 100% clear cut evidence?

 

[Sp45westie]

And now we wait ..

Hopefully not for to long

 

[neteditor]

The judge is following the law as he should be in a fair trail and lettting the jury know what they can can and can not take into account

Just to expand on this comment and in response to the previous poster suggesting the judge believed the defence...

The judge legally can only repeat evidence already given in court and has to be balanced in his summing up, so the prosecution and defence evidence is given equal weight in the judge's summing up.

If the judge said ANYTHING that was less than impartial, or gives an incorrect legal direction, that is immediate grounds for an appeal of the verdict.

And also please remember we are only getting what the journalists' are reporting, there will be a lot of dry legalise (standard in all cases) that are not worthy of reporting.

 

[Pooksthebear]

I think verdict will be mid afternoon, really can’t see it taking very long.

 

[Alyce]

If you WHOLLY accept his version of events you have to believe contradictory things.
Toni is TERRIFIED of Rab but is risking having an affair and deleting ALL media relating to it to keep Rab from finding out.
Toni likes the accused so much she is risking an affair (despite her violent boyfriend) but also hates him so much she wants the world to think he's a child rapist and murderer.
Toni is scared of Rab and confided in the accused over a period of months BUT when it came to framing someone she opted for the accused and not the boyfriend she's been complaining about all that time.
And also that she is some form of superbeing that doesn't appear on CCTV images and can get his clothes from the beach, get Alesha out the house with her kit of assault and semen transfer implements, carry kit and child to the crime scene, commit the crime, then get his clothes back to the beach, permanently lose or destroy her own kit and clothing, wash her body, and get back into bed beside Rab without anyone noticing her absence and without transferring any of her own DNA to ANYTHING, all in about 28 minutes.

If I were a teenager, having a friends with benefits connection with another teenager, behind my older boyfriend's back, I think I would also delete all media connection to stop him from finding out.
She's young. She's decided she doesn't like the teen any more - why not point the finger at him, gets him out of her life. Plus,she is still living with her older boyfriend despite her - alleged - complaints about him, so he can't be that bad.
The only cctv that we have heard about was on the shore road. Therefore, take a different route, no cctv.
Clothing - she could have got hold of his clothing in advance. No need to get it out of the water.
Take Alesha out of the house, very easy for her.
Carry child to scene. Harder for her to do.
Put clothes into water afterwards. Easy for her to do, though you would have to question why she would bother, if she is trying to frame him.
Destory her own clothing. Easy to do.
Get back to bed without having been missed. I can say, from personal experience, this is very easy to do.
All in 28 minutes ? where did that timing come from ?

Am only posting the above to show that I could find an answer to most of your reasoning. Not saying for one minute that I believe anyone other than the accused carried out this crime.

 

[Pooksthebear]

Just to expand on this comment and in response to the previous poster suggesting the judge believed the defence...

The judge legally can only repeat evidence already given in court and has to be balanced in his summing up, so the prosecution and defence evidence is given equal weight in the judge's summing up.

If the judge said ANYTHING that was less than impartial, or gives an incorrect legal direction, that is immediate grounds for an appeal of the verdict.

And also please remember we are only getting what the journalists' are reporting, there will be a lot of dry legalise (standard in all cases) that are not worthy of reporting.

Yes I agree.. got a bit flustered and posted without thinking.

 

[Owlpellet]

I think I’m just nervous and seeing what isn’t there. Just the judge saying think of the reason why he lied to the police, and don’t draw conclusions from no comment. I guess he has to mention them things

He said he lied in his statement to protect TM from RM, a woman he also apparently believes is capable of the most heinous violence and calculating duplicity.

 

[Alyce]

I think I’m just nervous and seeing what isn’t there. Just the judge saying think of the reason why he lied to the police, and don’t draw conclusions from no comment. I guess he has to mention them things

He will cover everything and, as has been said, he has to be as impartial as he can be. Look on this as a positive, if he makes sure he is scrupulously fair, then the defence have no leeway to bring an appeal, based on an unfair trial.
You are not alone - many of us are nervous, and some of us have been here years. It doesn't get any easier but have faith, it will end up with the right verdict.

 

[Makershaker]

Any other verdict than Guilty here I'll be flabbergasted

 

[404_notfound]

If you take the time to do the research you will find that the planting of semen in a variety of cases is more common than you might think. As the expert on the stand testified - it is 'not technically impossible'.

Hi beeseeingyou, i'm new to websleuths but not to truecrime so yes, i am aware of several cases where DNA was planted and/or the police evidence was tampered with or rigged in some way. However I feel in most of those cases there is evidence from the beginning either of police incompetence OR of a very clever person in the vicinity who is obviously so. I'm not in the court (though i walked my dogs past it three times yesterday and saw some involved outside) and have no idea of the full evidence, so i can only really speak to what has been seen in the press. But from all i HAVE seen in the press i just cannot work out how TM could have done this without being an absolute criminal genius, and i just can't see her as that. If the accused had said SHE had taken/kept his clothes for some reason, it would make me think she had been planning a set up (I know he said she had his hoodie, but it was the one item without evidence on it, she could have covered it in blood and DNA from victim and accused, why didn't she?). Or if he'd stated sex between them had stopped but she suddenly initiated again (because she had her plan perfected and needed his DNA that night). Or if he'd said they'd never had sex before and she sought him out that night, or never used condoms but did that night. But he makes it sound like they did as they always had done and THIS time it turned out she was framing him for a murder. It makes no sense to me, as i think in most murders of children a parent is involved, and she had ongoing access to Rab's DNA and probably semen. Why frame this random teenager and risk being caught when police are actively expecting it to be someone in the family of the child?

I do take your point that sometimes things are not as they seem, i just think that in this case they are.