UK - Alesha MacPhail, 6, raped & murdered, Ardbeg, Isle of Bute, Scotland, 2 Jul 2018 -teen arrested

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back door here: (as well as reported in the mirror)

Daily Mirror‏Verified account @DailyMirror
Alesha MacPhail's grandmother tells the court she forgot to take the key out of the back door on the night the six-year-old disappeared https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/alesha-macphail-trial-live-bute-13987247 …

DzN43wAXgAEL3A1.jpg
 
No pet, they're up on the first floor & attic. The ground floor (1st floor for USAians) is a separate flat accessed by the front door. The upstairs flat is accessed via the stair tower at the back. With doors at the bottom of the tower & another on the first floor (second floor for USAians). Then the attic is accessed from stairs on the first floor that are separate to the stair tower.
Just bumping this re. the doors.

Still not sure which door the key was in though.
 
I'm not reading too much into it. There's no context and this is an 18 year old girl trying to cope with this tragedy. Probably trying to

Just bumping this re. the doors.

Still not sure which door the key was in though.

I don't know if I am being thick today but that's super confusing. Is it just me?

ETA: sorry I mean the quote from an earlier post re the doors.
 
Just bumping this re. the doors.

Still not sure which door the key was in though.

Ah yes, thanks Legally, I had forgotten about the spiral staircase and the fact that their entrance was at the back of the building. Makes sense now as to why the word back has been used.
But this means that both the main back door and the apartment door had to have been unlocked in order to admit anyone.
Unless AK means they kept a key in the main back door ground floor entrance and that the apartment door on the first floor was not locked at all, just closed ?
 
Last edited:
16:27
Accused messaged Alesha's dad on the morning of her disappearance

A Facebook appeal by Alesha’s gran lead to locals joining the hunt, the court heard.

Alesha’s dad Robert MacPhail then became of an ambulance in the area with police also on the scene.

Mr McSporran, prosecuting, asked Robert MacPhail: “You and your dad were desperately trying to get information?”

Robert: “Yes.”

The prosecutor: “At some point, were you told your daughter had been found?”

He replied: “Yes.”

Mr McSporran: “Not un-naturally you reacted badly.”

Robert: “Yes.”

The advocate also asked: “Do you understand how Alesha could have left the house without you being aware of it?”

He replied: “No.”

Robert later told how he knew the boy charged with murdering his daughter.

He said: “I used to sell him cannabis.”

Robert said he was “not sure” when it started, but that it ended when the boy’s mum asked him to stop.

Jurors were told the boy had apparently got in touch with Robert in the early hours of July 2 - the day Alesha was found dead.

Mr McSporran: “What reason would he have had to contact you that morning?”

Robert: “Wanting cannabis.”

Brian McConnachie, defending, later quizzed Robert about the morning of the search.

The QC said: “Was it pandemonium looking in the house then rushing out looking for her.”

He replied: “Yes.”

1_Alesha-MacPhail-found-dead-in-Rothesay-Isle-of-Bute.jpg

Alesha was found dead on July 2 2018 (Image: Facebook)

Dad of girl, 6, 'raped and murdered' describes last time he saw her

bbm
 
The key thing is confusing me.

It doesn’t define what side of the door. If it’s on the outside - ‘back out of the door’ would make sense. I’ve done this on occasion when I’ve came in and my hands have been full and mind elsewhere. A key on the outside would make easy access for someone to come in, especially if a Yale lock.

Another thought, I wonder if the suspect has went to the door, seen the key, decided to break in for the cannabis. In doing so, has woken Alesha up and taken her.
 
Of course leaving the key in the keyhole could have led the adults to think the wee one had unlocked the door and gone out herself

Edited to add if this is of course if it was not a yale key but one like I have on my upvc front door where you need to turn the actual key to lock. I would imagine a flat within a house would have more than a yale for security. Which begs the question how could anyone without a key get into the main entrance to the two upper flats?
 
The key thing is confusing me.

It doesn’t define what side of the door. If it’s on the outside - ‘back out of the door’ would make sense. I’ve done this on occasion when I’ve came in and my hands have been full and mind elsewhere. A key on the outside would make easy access for someone to come in, especially if a Yale lock.

Another thought, I wonder if the suspect has went to the door, seen the key, decided to break in for the cannabis. In doing so, has woken Alesha up and taken her.

Yes, that makes sense.
Plus, as this entrance door is at the back of the building, he would not be walking past this door on his way home ( or wherever he was going ). He would have had to specifically divert round to the back of the building to reach the door. Which would indicate he had a purpose in going to the house.
 
Of course leaving the key in the keyhole could have led the adults to think the wee one had unlocked the door and gone out herself

Edited to add if this is of course if it was not a yale key but one like I have on my upvc front door where you need to turn the actual key to lock. I would imagine a flat within a house would have more than a yale for security. Which begs the question how could anyone without a key get into the main entrance to the two upper flats?

Maybe the stairwell door didn’t have a lock or other reisdents left it open for easy access, in a neighbourly sort of fashion. I honestly believe small town folk feel safe enough to do this. I’m wondering if the key was in the back of the door (facing the inside) rather than the outside and equally the door was unlocked. Confusing to say the least! I lived in a flat for years and the stair well door had no lock! 8 flats within the stair in the capital city of Scotland.
 
Yes, that makes sense.
Plus, as this entrance door is at the back of the building, he would not be walking past this door on his way home ( or wherever he was going ). He would have had to specifically divert round to the back of the building to reach the door. Which would indicate he had a purpose in going to the house.

Plus he must have "gone equipped" with the knife which screams intent.
 
Maybe the stairwell door didn’t have a lock or other reisdents left it open for easy access, in a neighbourly sort of fashion. I honestly believe small town folk feel safe enough to do this. I’m wondering if the key was in the back of the door (facing the inside) rather than the outside and equally the door was unlocked. Confusing to say the least! I lived in a flat for years and the stair well door had no lock! 8 flats within the stair in the capital city of Scotland.

Every close I lived in people would be propping open the main door, sometimes even completely broken, so people could get in and out to the stairs at will.
 
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