Alesha MacPhail: Teenager accused of raping and murdering six-year-old says a woman committed the crimes

Judge warns that abduction case is likely to cause ‘strong emotions’

A teenage boy accused of raping and murdering a six-year-old girl on the Isle of Bute has blamed a woman for the crime.

The body of Alesha MacPhail was discovered in woodland on the island in the Firth of Clyde last July.

A 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been accused of taking the schoolgirl from her bed, and assaulting and murdering her.

He denies the charges and has instead lodged a special defence of incrimination, stating that a named woman committed the crime.

A jury at the High Court in Glasgow heard the child’s naked body was found in the grounds of the former Kyles Hydropathic Hotel at Port Bannatyne.

A post-mortem examination determined the cause of death as “pressure to neck and face”.

Judge Lord Matthews told the panel that the case, expected to last up to two weeks, was likely to cause “strong emotions”.

He said: “You have to approach this case with a great deal of professional detachment."

The teenager, who wore a grey suit in court, denies entering a house with a knife and abducting Alesha.

It is alleged he took her to the site of the former hotel, shook her violently, raped her and inflicted injuries “by means to the prosecutor unknown”.

You have to approach this case with a great deal of professional detachment

Judge Lord Matthews

He has pleaded not guilty to a second charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of clothing and a knife on the shore at Rothesay and washing blood off his body.

Agreed statements of fact were read to the jury on Monday before the judge adjourned the case for a day, when evidence will be heard.

Reporting by the Press Association