UK - Alesha MacPhail, 6, raped & murdered, Ardbeg, Isle of Bute, Scotland, 2 Jul 2018 -*arrest* #4

[bfin1995]

The Scottish Sun has a new map up:

 

[scapa]

Do we know, outside of those rumours "that can't be corroborated," that any of these lurid accounts are true? Having lived on a Scottish island (and with family there) I'd be surprised if a known cat-skinner was left to walk about unhindered for very long. There are some pretty stringent social controls that don't reach physical harm but can impact lives all the way down in my community, and it's quite a bit bigger than Bute. This was a horrific crime and I'm delighted that this kid is locked up, but the Sun and DM are really going to town now.

 

[TaylorCallum]

Do we know, outside of those rumours "that can't be corroborated," that any of these lurid accounts are true? Having lived on a Scottish island (and with family there) I'd be surprised if a known cat-skinner was left to walk about unhindered for very long. There are some pretty stringent social controls that don't reach physical harm but can impact lives all the way down in my community, and it's quite a bit bigger than Bute. This was a horrific crime and I'm delighted that this kid is locked up, but the Sun and DM are really going to town now.

I was thinking about this as well. My immediate reaction to that was one of disgust, but thinking about it more rationally, it seems strange that someone would be able to kill two cats, bury them in his back yard and nothing would get said or done. Also according to the article, it happened 3 years ago so he was only 13 at the time? I'm not sure how much stock to put into these stories. Also, the story of him trying to "drown" a girl when he was 6 or 7 may not be entirely accurate either. Are we sure he wasn't messing around as a kid and got a little carried away? God forbid something did happen back then, he wouldn't even have been held responsible because the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland is 8 years old.

Not that I'm trying to defend him though, we're well aware that he is very capable of heinous and sadistic acts and maybe there were warning signs and red flags leading up to the atrocity he committed. I'm just finding some of these stories a bit sensationalised.

 

[bronbaby]

I was thinking about this as well. My immediate reaction to that was one of disgust, but thinking about it more rationally, it seems strange that someone would be able to kill two cats, bury them in his back yard and nothing would get said or done. Also according to the article, it happened 3 years ago so he was only 13 at the time? I'm not sure how much stock to put into these stories. Also, the story of him trying to "drown" a girl when he was 6 or 7 may not be entirely accurate either. Are we sure he wasn't messing around as a kid and got a little carried away? God forbid something did happen back then, he wouldn't even have been held responsible because the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland is 8 years old.

Not that I'm trying to defend him though, we're well aware that he is very capable of heinous and sadistic acts and maybe there were warning signs and red flags leading up to the atrocity he committed. I'm just finding some of these stories a bit sensationalised.

Hopefully the truth will out

 

[UKslueth2018]

I was thinking about this as well. My immediate reaction to that was one of disgust, but thinking about it more rationally, it seems strange that someone would be able to kill two cats, bury them in his back yard and nothing would get said or done. Also according to the article, it happened 3 years ago so he was only 13 at the time? I'm not sure how much stock to put into these stories. Also, the story of him trying to "drown" a girl when he was 6 or 7 may not be entirely accurate either. Are we sure he wasn't messing around as a kid and got a little carried away? God forbid something did happen back then, he wouldn't even have been held responsible because the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland is 8 years old.

Not that I'm trying to defend him though, we're well aware that he is very capable of heinous and sadistic acts and maybe there were warning signs and red flags leading up to the atrocity he committed. I'm just finding some of these stories a bit sensationalised.

The sun newspaper and sensationalism go hand in hand...

I like you struggle to think that so many people would let such heinous behaviour slide but people do not like to get involved...

I have first hand knowledge of this from my youth as everyone knew what went on in my house and not a soul did a thing xx

 

[AM12]

And now the missing pieces begin to emerge

From scottish sun:
He was carrying a knife from first year and his mum had to go to school daily for a report on what he’d been up to.”

And

His dad told close friends years ago his son has no empathy. He doesn’t have feelings for anyone else.

Really might buy a copy . Only story worth a read, Carrying a knife in Rothesay . What a

 

[bronbaby]

The sun newspaper and sensationalism go hand in hand...

I like you struggle to think that so many people would let such heinous behaviour slide but people do not like to get involved...

I have first hand knowledge of this from my youth as everyone knew what went on in my house and not a soul did a thing xx

i am sorry people who knew did nothing to help you. Terrible xo

 

[Dottyl]

The unanimous verdict within 3 hours says it all. I hope this brings a family who have been dragged through the mud some small solace. Its apparent that some elements of this little girls home life were chaotic, it’s very common. It also doesn’t make you immune to being targeted by a psychopath. The two things don’t have to be linked. This monstrosity has planted doubt in the publics mind about TM. In a way I think her so called friends evidence was more damaging to her personally than the evil boys allegations. The latter lacked all credibility. She is an 18 year old girl having to face her boyfriend and his parents after her “friend “ gave evidence that she was resentful of their precious and now deceased daughter and grand daughter. They said that she was annoyed about the time they had planned to spend with her.... That would be devastating to a grieving family. I can’t see that there is anyway back for her from that. RIP Alesha. Rot in hell the bad seed.

 

[Heathyheath_]

I don’t really have any issues with the accused’s mother being interviewed. For a start, as has been said many times, the editor usually takes what’s been said out of context and doesn’t even feature certain information that the interviewee maybe expected to be featured.

I believe that the mother gave this interview as a pre-emptive way of reminding everybody that she did hand in her own son, before his name and other details are released, so she gets less blame for this whole mess. It makes sense and is understandable in my opinion.

 

[AM12]

The Scottish Sun has a new map up:

Is it possible to disclose where murderers house is ?

 

[bronbaby]

Is it possible to disclose where murderers house is ?

No. He is still granted anonymity by law. This is being reviewed in court today though. If his home is disclosed then so is his identity by default. My own opinion is, possibly close to the murder location.

 

[Rhenish]

I wonder why the mum chose to speak to the media.

I would say that she wanted to have a voice as she knows everyone has speculated as to who would have born and raised this Monster Rapist and Murderous *advertiser censored**ing Scum*** -(quoting Rab with the Fuc***ing Scum*** comment) and she probably feels guilty and is questioning everything about her parenthood abilities. Remember that she said her heart sank when she reviewed the cctv footage. IMO-Her heart sank because she knew and believed her son had the propensity to commit the crime. She was torn. Ultimately she made the right decision.

As is true in so many cases that we cannot wrap our heads around parents are blamed and perhaps she just wanted to defend herself and her reputation which I think is fair. I have no doubt she is questioning and doubting herself and blaming herself just because he is her son, which is why she does extol his virtues. In a sense doing so says she did do some things right. Mom's always pick out the good things about their kids to brag about or share even while knowing their children's negative qualities and traits . Ted Bundy's Mom will tell you Ted was the perfect son growing up, and to her he was for all she knew. When it came out that he was a serial killer that is all she wanted to hang onto, her perfect recollection of Ted. Maybe denial or maybe self preservation.

I choose to give the woman a break and not look to condemn her or question her, I would never ever want to walk in her shoes and I do not know of a reference guide that suggests how a parent should navigate such a horrific situation when you learn your 16 year old son brutally murdered and raped and ravished a child. The truth is this, Mom is not at all responsible for the crime that her monstrous evil son committed. Give her a moment to vent without judgement. I can only imagine, as a Mom myself, how she is trying to reconcile all that transpired. Forgive her if in your minds eye she did not say the right things. God forbid that anyone of us here would have to deal with the position she is in regarding a crime a child of ours may have committed.

 

[Rhenish]

The unanimous verdict within 3 hours says it all. I hope this brings a family who have been dragged through the mud some small solace. Its apparent that some elements of this little girls home life were chaotic, it’s very common. It also doesn’t make you immune to being targeted by a psychopath. The two things don’t have to be linked. This monstrosity has planted doubt in the publics mind about TM. In a way I think her so called friends evidence was more damaging to her personally than the evil boys allegations. The latter lacked all credibility. She is an 18 year old girl having to face her boyfriend and his parents after her “friend “ gave evidence that she was resentful of their precious and now deceased daughter and grand daughter. They said that she was annoyed about the time they had planned to spend with her.... That would be devastating to a grieving family. I can’t see that there is anyway back for her from that. RIP Alesha. Rot in hell the bad seed.

In 100% agreement, you represent my sentiments exactly, well said and a great post.

 

[Rhenish]

Shouts out to all of you locals that knew of information or rumor regarding the accused that you all had to refrain from sharing until the media validated. I can only imagine how hard it had to be to refrain from sharing what was known or said about the murderer within the local community. Ugh... Thanks to all of you for your insight and education regarding life sentences, sentencing guidelines, laws regarding naming the accused.

 

[Dottyl]

So professor Wilson thinks that he killed alesha because he had raped her and would be unlikely to kill again. How close was he to the details of this case? This was an extremely violent sadistic attack with the prosecution in summing up saying he had “ripped her apart” . The act of “rape” was so violent it would have killed her in itself... her injuries were catastrophic. If ( please god it’s otherwise) she was still alive that’s unthinkably cruel. He then degraded her further by posing her body. None of this suggests he was reluctant to kill. If he is not privy to the full details then I think his off the cuff comment is dangerous. The judge himself said this was the worst case the court had ever heard. I am sorry to repeat these very distressing details but it worries me that such a dangerous narrative is getting air time. I don’t believe he is in denial and he himself doesn’t think he did it. The fact that it seems unplanned was possibly because he fantasised about abducting raping and murdering children ( and had seen alesha on social media) but had something else planned for that night. However when an opportunity presented itself he didn’t want to let it pass. IMO he would absolutely kill again given another opportunity.

 

[Keeneye]

Hopefully for long sentence , based on his own barristers words about the ferociousness of the killing definitely speaks volumes.

 

[Taskforce88]

I was thinking about this as well. My immediate reaction to that was one of disgust, but thinking about it more rationally, it seems strange that someone would be able to kill two cats, bury them in his back yard and nothing would get said or done. Also according to the article, it happened 3 years ago so he was only 13 at the time? I'm not sure how much stock to put into these stories. Also, the story of him trying to "drown" a girl when he was 6 or 7 may not be entirely accurate either. Are we sure he wasn't messing around as a kid and got a little carried away? God forbid something did happen back then, he wouldn't even have been held responsible because the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland is 8 years old.

Not that I'm trying to defend him though, we're well aware that he is very capable of heinous and sadistic acts and maybe there were warning signs and red flags leading up to the atrocity he committed. I'm just finding some of these stories a bit sensationalised.

It fits with the pattern of escalation. He didn't just snap, this was building for a while. I believe they are true. Locals who knew him told me these stories back last year. I expect a lot more to come from what I have heard.

 

[Owlpellet]

So professor Wilson thinks that he killed alesha because he had raped her and would be unlikely to kill again. How close was he to the details of this case? This was an extremely violent sadistic attack with the prosecution in summing up saying he had “ripped her apart” . The act of “rape” was so violent it would have killed her in itself... her injuries were catastrophic. If ( please god it’s otherwise) she was still alive that’s unthinkably cruel. He then degraded her further by posing her body. None of this suggests he was reluctant to kill. If he is not privy to the full details then I think his off the cuff comment is dangerous. The judge himself said this was the worst case the court had ever heard. I am sorry to repeat these very distressing details but it worries me that such a dangerous narrative is getting air time. I don’t believe he is in denial and he himself doesn’t think he did it. The fact that it seems unplanned was possibly because he fantasised about abducting raping and murdering children ( and had seen alesha on social media) but had something else planned for that night. However when an opportunity presented itself he didn’t want to let it pass. IMO he would absolutely kill again given another opportunity.

Aye, David Wilson likes to be on tv. I would take his opinions at this stage with a pinch of salt. We don’t have all the facts yet regarding his childhood and previous behaviour. I think we were told that the evidence suggested he killed Alesha during (not after) the attack. i.e. there were injuries caused after death. He smothered her during the attack. Perhaps to quieten her? To stop himself from being caught? Perhaps because he was enjoying the control.David Wilson is suggesting he killed her afterwards to avoid facing what he had done. Whether he is right or wrong, he is expressing an opinion which is not supported by evidence.

 

[Taskforce88]

Aye, David Wilson likes to be on tv. I would take his opinions at this stage with a pinch of salt. We don’t have all the facts yet regarding his childhood and previous behaviour. I think we were told that the evidence suggested he killed Alesha during (not after) the attack. i.e. there were injuries caused after death. He smothered her during the attack. Perhaps to quieten her? To stop himself from being caught? Perhaps because he was enjoying the control.David Wilson is suggesting he killed her afterwards to avoid facing what he had done. Whether he is right or wrong, he is expressing an opinion which is not supported by evidence.

I was sitting watching a programme last night with him in it, then I realised who he was. Not sure what to make of his opinion that he wouldn't have went on to kill again.

 

[404_notfound]

The sun newspaper and sensationalism go hand in hand...

I like you struggle to think that so many people would let such heinous behaviour slide but people do not like to get involved...

I have first hand knowledge of this from my youth as everyone knew what went on in my house and not a soul did a thing xx

I would say that she wanted to have a voice as she knows everyone has speculated as to who would have born and raised this Monster Rapist and Murderous *advertiser censored**ing Scum*** -(quoting Rab with the Fuc***ing Scum*** comment) and she probably feels guilty and is questioning everything about her parenthood abilities. Remember that she said her heart sank when she reviewed the cctv footage. IMO-Her heart sank because she knew and believed her son had the propensity to commit the crime. She was torn. Ultimately she made the right decision.

As is true in so many cases that we cannot wrap our heads around parents are blamed and perhaps she just wanted to defend herself and her reputation which I think is fair. I have no doubt she is questioning and doubting herself and blaming herself just because he is her son, which is why she does extol his virtues. In a sense doing so says she did do some things right. Mom's always pick out the good things about their kids to brag about or share even while knowing their children's negative qualities and traits . Ted Bundy's Mom will tell you Ted was the perfect son growing up, and to her he was for all she knew. When it came out that he was a serial killer that is all she wanted to hang onto, her perfect recollection of Ted. Maybe denial or maybe self preservation.

I choose to give the woman a break and not look to condemn her or question her, I would never ever want to walk in her shoes and I do not know of a reference guide that suggests how a parent should navigate such a horrific situation when you learn your 16 year old son brutally murdered and raped and ravished a child. The truth is this, Mom is not at all responsible for the crime that her monstrous evil son committed. Give her a moment to vent without judgement. I can only imagine, as a Mom myself, how she is trying to reconcile all that transpired. Forgive her if in your minds eye she did not say the right things. God forbid that anyone of us here would have to deal with the position she is in regarding a crime a child of ours may have committed.

As a parent with children who need mental health care (not for these sorts of propensities thank god!) i can also say that accessing decent help is REALLY hard and that so many cuts have been made to our services that there is really very little done about these things unless the child is already a ward of the court OR something very serious has already happened. I know MANY parents struggling with extreme behaviours from mentally unwell children and there is just no real help. A friend has a broken cheekbone just now where her 6'2" 15 stone teenager headbutted her, there is nowhere for him to "go" and he lacks the intellectual capacity to understand what he has done, so he's in her home with her still. Another friend's child is so anxious she is now agoraphobic and hasn't left their home for 4 years, she desperately needs psychiatric help and dental care but the mother can't get her out and the professionals say they can't come in. When the daughter committed a semi-serious act of self harm they told the parents "not to worry".

I can't speak for how true the rumours are. I did NOT hear them only from Islanders as @Taskforce88 did though, but in mental health support spaces online, which to me points to them having more truth to them (it seems unlikely that people were pretending to be affected by his behaviour months and years before this crime happened just in case he did something further).

I am trying not to read the lurid gutter press representations. I am devastated for Alesha's family that they lost their beautiful girl in such an awful situation, but also my heart goes out to his family, I have lived with a monstrous abuser too, and it was a hugely stressful and traumatic way to exist.