THE TEENAGE boy charged with killing and raping Alesha MacPhail has said he never met her - as a court was told traces of DNA matching the accused were found on the six-year-old girl.
He told the High Court in Glasgow he had “never met Alesha MacPhail in person”, and answered “no” and “absolutely not” as his defence lawyer took him through the charges on Tuesday.
Foresnic scientist Stuart Bailey said DNA found on and inside Alesha MacPhail's body, shorts and vest was more than one billion times more likely to be from the accused than someone unrelated to him.
Alesha’s naked body was found in a wooded area on the Isle of Bute, where she lived, on July 2, last year.
A 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named because of his age, denies abducting the youngster from the island home she shared with her dad and grandparents, raping and murdering her, and attempting to hide evidence.
The teenager told the court he would “never do something like that” and asked if he “brutalised” her, he said: “It’s not me, absolutely not. I would never do something like that.”
Questioned if his “DNA is all over her” because he murdered and raped her, he said: “No”.
Giving evidence at the High Court in Glasgow, he said he had been “fairly frequently” having sex with the woman he is blaming for Alesha’s death, Toni McLachlan, the girlfriend of Alesha’s father, Robert.
He said from October 2017 for most of the the winter they were “friends with benefits” and were “meeting up, having sex, smoking joints”.
He said her partner Robert, or Rab, MacPhail did not know as he and Ms McLachlan were still a couple and she would complain he was abusing her.
He said he was heading to see Ms McClachlan when he was shown on CCTV leaving his home.
Toni McLachlan (right) is the girlfriend of Alesha's father (left)
He said in the early hours of July 2, the day Alesha’s body was found in woods on the island, he and Ms McLachlan messaged on Instagram and met for a cigarette.
They met in a shelter outside the home where she was staying with Mr MacPhail, Alesha and her grandparents, then went to a garage and had sex, before going their separate ways, the court heard.
The teenager has claimed in a "special defence" that it was Ms McLachlan who killed Alesha and planted his DNA from a used condom. She denies this saying she “loved” Alesha and refutes thatshe had sex with the accused on July 2.
He told the court he believed she retrieved the condom he threw away in the garage.
He said: “Toni’s took the condom when I left. She’s went and killed Alesha.”
He said he believed Ms McLachlan had been planning the murder.
“I don’t think it’s something that you would do spontaneously,” he added.
“She could have been fantasising about it for months. I really don’t know, I’m not her.”
He said alleging she had murdered Alesha if it was not true would be “evil”.
The teenager said he “lied” to his mother and the police about what he did on July 2 out of concern for Ms McLachlan, but denied being a “confident liar”.
He said he did not want to tell them about having sex with Ms McLachlan that night as he feared it would get back to Mr MacPhail.
“I didn’t want her to get hurt. I didn’t want her to get hit by Rab,” he said.
The accused told the court after having sex he and Ms McLachlan chatted for a while and that afterwards he went home and had a shower.
Defence agent Brian McConnachie QC asked the accused about a video he posted on social media that day which showed his top half with the written message “found who done it”.
The accused said: “It was a video of my feet walking to the bathroom and the camera points up to the mirror and I pretend to get a fright and it says ‘found who done it’.
Asked why he did that, he replied: “People were talking about who might have done it and one of my friends said my name and I didn’t want to take it to heart so I just thought I would build on it.”
Mr McConnachie said: “You were making people know you were responsible.”
The accused replied: “No, we didn’t even know it was a murder at that time, we were just speculating.”
Questioned about messages he exchanged with a friend where he says he would maybe “kill one day for the lifetime experience”, he said these were “not serious”.
He said the conversation was started by the friend, adding: “It would ruin your life if you ever killed anybody.”
Earlier Mr Bailey said DNA traces which could be from the accused were also found on Alesha's thighs, wrists, right hand, ankles, face, underarms and areas of bruising This could be explained by the 16-year-old coming into contact with these areas of her body and clothes.
Questioned if the accused's DNA could have been found on Alesha though secondary transfer from a third party, Mr Bailey said: "I can't rule it out but I find it highly unlikely given the amount of DNA attributed to [the accused]."
Mr Bailey said the accused's DNA was also recovered from the waistband of jogging trousers found on the shoreline on the Isle of Bute, but no DNA was discovered on a knife or a black hooded top found on different areas of the shore.
Police search Alesha MacPhail's grandparents' front garden in July
Mr Bailey said no bloodstains or DNA samples from the accused were recovered from the house Alesha had been staying in, which her father shared with her grandparents on Ardbeg Road in Rothesay.
There were also no bloodstains relevant to the inquiry or DNA from Alesha found in the accused's house, he said.
Under questioning, he said the the DNA findings from the homes were scientifically "neutral" and could not be used to either indicate or rule out the teenager being in the house Alesha was staying.
The trial, before judge Lord Matthews, continues.
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