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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Douglas Barrie

Alesha MacPhail murder: Aaron Campbell to launch appeal against sentence

The teenager who admitted raping and murdering six-year-old Alesha MacPhail has launched an appeal against his jail sentence.

Aaron Campbell, 16, was handed a life imprisonment term and locked up for at least 27 years after he was convicted of abducting, raping and murdering the six-year-old on the Isle of Bute last July.

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) confirmed he had lodged the appeal on Thursday.

Campbell was convicted last month at the High Court in Glasgow, where a jury unanimously found him guilty following a nine-day trial.

Alesha MacPhail murder - Scotland pays tribute to ‘beautiful, kind and thoughtful child’ violated by Aaron Campbell 

The teenager finally admitted his crimes in a psychological report prepared ahead of his sentencing.

Lord Matthews said social work and psychologist reports "had painted a clear picture of a cold, callous, calculating, remorseless and dangerous individual".

He said Campbell had shown a "staggering lack of remorse" and told the teenager: "Not once did I detect a flicker of emotion from you."

Earlier this week, one of the psychologists who assessed Campbell, Dr John Marshall, called for children to be screened for psychopathic behaviour in the wake of the murder.

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