Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Alesha MacPhail murder: Police on Bute examine information from public appeals

Post Thumbnail

POLICE investigating the murder of a six-year-old girl that has stunned an island community say they have had a “very good” response to public appeals and are pursuing a number of lines of inquiry.

Alesha MacPhail was reported missing from her grandmother’s home in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute at 6.25am on Monday.

Bute graphic
(PA Graphics)

Her body was found in woodland on the site of a former hotel in Ardbeg Road by a member of the public around two-and-a-half hours later.

Following the results of a post-mortem examination on Tuesday, police confirmed they are treating the schoolgirl’s death as murder.

Islanders have been warned to be vigilant about the safety of their children and the security of their homes as investigations continue.

There was increased police activity at the property where Alesha had been staying on Wednesday morning.

More than a dozen officers entered the garden of the Ardbeg Road property with long sticks to search the gardens and bushes surrounding the building.

A Police Scotland spokesman confirmed a number of items, including a vehicle, have been recovered as part of the investigation.

The car is believed to have been removed by officers on Monday or Tuesday.

Police vans
Police vans on Ardbeg Road on the Isle of Bute (John Linton/PA)

The force spokesman added: “The response from the public following our appeals has been very good and we would like to thank those who have taken the time to contact us with information so far.

“A number of lines of inquiry are being followed up, however we continue to appeal to those who have not yet spoken to police and may have information to get in contact with us.

“We would like to speak to anyone who may have CCTV at their home or business or any motorists who have dashcam footage which might help with our investigation.”

The island community has been left in shock by the murder of the six-year-old, who was a few days into a three-week break to visit family.

Reverend Owain Jones has opened his United Church of Bute in Rothesay to allow people to visit at any time.

He said: “We’re all absolutely staggered, we have no words for this and it’s beyond any power of words to express.

“We’re all just really sitting in a kind of shared stunned silence just trying to uphold each other.

“Bute is one of these places that is incredibly safe, you take all sorts of things for granted here and don’t panic if you forget to lock the house or whatever.

“It’s not a remote island in the classic sense – it’s only 90 minutes to Glasgow – but even so it is an island and we all know each other at least by sight, and it’s an extremely safe place and there is no context for this.”

Body found on the Isle of Bute
Forensic officers at the police cordon on Ardbeg Road (Jane Barlow/PA)

Meanwhile, Detective Superintendent Stuart Houston said Alesha’s family are “utterly devastated” at her death, and he appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

He is still keen to speak to people who were involved in the search for the missing girl that was conducted early on Monday morning.

He added: “Alesha had lots of friends who will no doubt find it very difficult to comprehend why they will never see their friend again.

“For such a young girl to have her life taken away is incomprehensible.”

Flowers, teddies and balloons have been left on the pavement outside the property on Ardbeg Road, with messages attached reading “sleep tight little angel” and “good night little angel”.

A school picture of the six-year-old has also been placed on the street, while her headteacher at Chapelside Primary School in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, said Alesha would be “greatly missed”.