Qualla: Murder of Alesha MacPhail

Murder of Alesha MacPhail: Introduction

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

She was six years old. Her favourite things were gymnastics, cake baking and writing. Her headteacher remembered her as smiley and happy, a girl who loved school. On 28 June 2018, Alesha Sarah MacPhail travelled from her home in Airdrie to her grandparents' seafront house in Rothesay for what was meant to be three weeks of the school summer holiday. She had just finished Primary Two. Three nights into the visit, she was put to bed with a Peppa Pig DVD playing. Sometime after 11pm a stranger walked into the unlocked house. By morning she was missing, and by morning she was already dead. This is a story about a child, and about the family and the small island community left to grieve her.

Murder of Alesha MacPhail: A Bright Little Girl

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Alesha lived in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, with her mother Georgina Lochrane. Her parents had separated when she was three months old, and she visited her father Robert, his parents Calum and Angela, and his girlfriend Toni McLachlan in Rothesay every other weekend. The Isle of ...

Murder of Alesha MacPhail: The Night She Was Taken

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On 1 July 2018, Alesha was put to bed at her grandparents' house with the cartoon playing. Toni McLachlan checked on her around 11pm and found her asleep. Sometime in the early hours, a 16-year-old who lived a short walk away entered the unlocked house. Aaron Campbell had previou...

Murder of Alesha MacPhail: Caught By His Mother's Camera

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Police Scotland mobilised every available resource, with a helicopter overhead and house-to-house enquiries across the small island. Janette Campbell, the killer's mother, joined the search early on. When the police asked locally for CCTV, she went home and checked the security c...

Murder of Alesha MacPhail: The Family Left Behind

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Alesha's funeral was held in Coatbridge on 21 July 2018. Hundreds of mourners came. The service was themed in pink. She was buried at Coltswood Cemetery. Her mother told reporters afterwards: you've taken the wrong wee girl from the wrong family. The presiding judge, Lord Matthew...

Murder of Alesha MacPhail: Pink Benches and a Playhouse

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On 25 May 2019, a pink memorial bench was unveiled on the Rothesay promenade. The following month, on what would have been close to a year since her death, Alesha's primary school in Airdrie opened a playhouse built in her memory, decorated with artwork her classmates had designe...