A 15-year-old boy is to face the Children’s Reporter after a warped internet troll account was set up in the name of Alesha MacPhail ’s killer.
Police Scotland confirmed the youngster had been identified in connection with an “online communication offence” after an Instagram page pretended to be Aaron Campbell, the schoolboy who murdered six-year-old Alesha on the Isle of Bute in July 2018.
The account taunted Alesha’s mum Georgina Lochrane, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, by branding her daughter’s murderer a ‘legend’ and trying to follow her.
The grieving mum also had to read messages posted on pictures of her tragic daughter, saying: “oh sh** I didn’t mean to kill her sorry’.”
The page, featuring an edited post of the child killer’s mug shot and a biography reading ‘The man the myth the legend’, read: “This page may offend you so if you don’t like it then go away. I killed Alesha lol.”
Furious supporters of Alesha’s family instantly launched a campaign to have it removed, with scores of people reporting the content to police and Instagram chiefs.
The page attracted hundreds of followers before finally being shut down.
Outing the page on Facebook, Georgina wrote: “Poor baby she can’t just be left to rest.”
An arrest has not been made but the Children’s Reporter will decide how to deal with the case and whether to refer the boy to an official hearing.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “A 15-year-old boy is the subject of a report in respect of an online communication offence.”
Camobell was just 16 when he raped and murdered Alesha after abducting her from her bed at her grandparents’ home, where she had been staying for the start of the summer holidays.
The schoolgirl’s naked body was discovered in woodland following a major search the next day. She had suffered 117 separate injuries.
Campbell maintained his innocence and forced Alesha’s family to endure a trial before confessing his twisted crimes following his conviction.
Now 18, the killer is serving at least 24 years behind bars after his original minimum prison term was slashed by three years following a successful appeal last year.
