Police officers probing the horrific murder of six-year-old Alesha MacPhail were left “physically traumatised” by the case, a top cop has revealed.
Alesha was visiting family in Rothesay, on the Isle of Bute, when she was abducted from her bed, raped and murdered by 16-year-old Aaron Campbell on July 2, 2018.
Her body was later found in woodland nearby. She had suffered 117 separate injuries.
Alesha’s killer was caught after he was captured on his mother’s CCTV coming and going from their home in the middle of the night.
Speaking for the first time about the investigation, senior officers have revealed the impact the case had on experienced police staff.
Detective Sergeant Julie Nedley said: “It was my team that investigated the Alesha MacPhail murder and the officers working the case were exposed to some horrendous things.
“Obviously, that’s not a patch on the suffering that her family have endured.
“However, I remember being in the office the first Friday all my colleagues came back from the island. Some of them just looked ill – they looked physically traumatised.”
Speaking in BBC documentary Murder Case – Inside the Inquiry tonight, DS Nedley added: “I remember the day of the verdict, being in the office. It was very emotive, there were people upset. A case like that can have a huge impact on you as a police officer and on the department.”
DS Michael McCarron, Police Scotland’s family liaison officer during the investigation, told how it was his job to keep Alesha’s mother Georgina Lochrane informed of progress in the search for her daughter and, later, her killer.
He said: “Quite often we deal with murder of the completely innocent and they just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and they contributed nothing to what happened to them.
“The saddest ones you’ll ever get are children. She was only six years old, that wee girl, and she was abducted, raped and murdered by a 16-year-old boy on the isle of Bute.
“It was just about the most tragic set of circumstances. Out of all the jobs I’ve ever dealt with, I would say that was the toughest I’ve had.”
DC Graeme Bettley added: “It was the first time in an inquiry I’ve become aware of people becoming emotional in work, because as the inquiry progressed and more and more information became available, we became aware of how much of an horrific murder it was.”
The hour-long documentary gives a unique insight into the work of the police team, who deal with about 60 murders per year in Scotland.
Following senior and rookie detectives over two years, it reveals what it’s like to work on harrowing cases, in the worst crime scenes and deal with disturbing offenders in the pursuit of justice.
Detective Constable Gemma Lawrie, who has been on the force for 11 years, discusses her part in the investigation into the murder of Irish student Karen Buckley on April 11, 2015.
The 24-year-old had gone out with friends to The Sanctuary nightclub in Glasgow. Also there that night was 21-year-old Alexander Pacteau, who would later be jailed for life for her murder. Pacteau repeatedly struck her with a spanner and strangled her in his car before hiding her body in a barrel.
DC Lawrie said: “The first high-profile murder I worked on was the Karen Buckley murder.
“On that inquiry, I did CCTV for the nightclub Karen was in. I’ll never forget it. It’s horrible to watch an innocent girl in a nightclub having a good time with her friends – it’s like that sliding doors moment. She leaves and walks into her death.”
The programme also sees Detective Inspector Peter Crombie overseeing the search for a knife, thought to have been disposed of in the River Clyde.
Instead, the underwater unit recovers other weapons from guns to machetes.
He said: “If they drained the River Clyde, it would tell you some stories, it really would. I’m sure there’s been loads of items that have been discarded in there over the years.
“I think they pulled everything but the kitchen sink from the dock that day. They did recover a machete and several knives and guns but, unfortunately, there was nothing linked to our investigation.”
He added: “It would be great if it was like on the TV where cases are solved within a day. Unfortunately, the reality is that we can work away for weeks and months on an inquiry before we get the answers we are looking for.
"But it’s that determination to get the answers for the victims because they don’t have a voice, and it’s up to us to try and get the answers for them.”
Murder Case – Inside the Inquiry is on BBC Scotland tonight at 10pm. It will be repeated on BBC Two tomorrow at 9pm.
