Family of Alesha MacPhail recall desperate search to find her

The dad of Alesha MacPhail told his daughter: “See you in the morning” - before learning she was missing then later discovered dead.

Robert MacPhail recalled how the six year-old “loved” her summer holiday visits to his family home on the Isle of Bute.

Jurors heard Robert, 26, tucked Alesha up in bed last July 1 and left her watching a Peppa Pig DVD.

But, there was “pandemonium” the next morning when it emerged the child was not in the flat.

Alesha's family made a desperate search to find the child – before her naked body was discovered lying in woodland on the island.

Robert also today admitted he sold cannabis to the 16 year-old boy accused of killing his daughter.

The teenager – who cannot be named for legal reasons – denies abducting, raping and murdering Alesha last July 2.

He has lodged a special defence at the High Court in Glasgow blaming Robert's partner Toni Louise McLachlan.

Robert told how he lived on Bute with his parents having earlier split from Alesha's mother.

Alesha would stay with her dad every second weekend and during the holidays.

Robert told how his daughter would “love” the visits enjoying trips to the park, swimming or the beach.

He added: “We were never in. We were always doing something.”

She was then with Robert and her grandparents last summer.

The dad said: “I was looking forward to having her.”

Last July 1, Alesha was taken to a party in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire before returning to Bute.

Robert was later in his room with partner Toni having something to eat when Alesha came in asking for some.

He gave her food before putting her to bed. However, the dad later heard his daughter get back up.

Robert then said: “I put her back to bed. I told her that I would see her in the morning.”

He put on a Peppa Pig DVD “for her to fall asleep to”.

But, prosecutor Iain McSporran QC said to him: “That was the last time you saw her.”

Robert: “Yes.” The witness added he believed this was around 10:30-11pm.

The next morning, Robert was then wakened by his parents asking where Alesha was.

The child was not in the flat – a hunt was soon sparked to find the girl.

Robert: “I went straight out to look. Toni came with me. My mum stayed in the house and my dad went out as well.

“I went along the shore road...could not see her. Me and Toni headed into town, went to the ferry terminal, the taxi rank...there was no sign of her.”

A Facebook appeal by Alesha's gran lead to locals joining the hunt.

Robert then became of an ambulance in the area with police also on the scene.

Mr McSporran: “You and your dad were desperately trying to get information?”

Robert: “Yes.”

The prosecutor: “At some point, were you told your daughter had been found?”

He replied: “Yes.”

Mr McSporran: “Not un-naturally you reacted badly.”

Robert: “Yes.”

The advocate also asked: “Do you understand how Alesha could have left the house without you being aware of it?”

He replied: “No.”

Robert later told how he knew the boy charged with murdering his daughter.

He admitted: “I used to sell him cannabis.”

Robert said he was “not sure” when it started, but that it ended when the boy's mum asked him to stop.

The witness was asked had the boy been at his home.

Robert: “He was never in the house, but had been at the front door.”

Jurors were told the boy had apparently got in touch with Robert in the early hours of July 2.

Mr McSporran: “What reason would he have had to contact you that morning?”

Robert: “Wanting cannabis.”

Facebook messages between him and the boy appeared to indicated the pair had fallen out in February last year over a £10 drug debt.

Mr McConnachie later asked Robert: "Did it ever cross your mind that your drug dealing might have some relevance to Alesha being taken?"

The witness replied: "It did not".

Brian McConnachie, defending, later quizzed Robert about the morning of the search.

The QC said: “Was it pandemonium looking in the house then rushing out looking for her.”

He replied: “Yes.”

Alesha's grandfather Calum MacPhail, 49, also recalled his attempts to find the girl.

The last time he saw Alesha was when she came in and jumped on his bed the night before she was discovered.

The girl said to him: "Goodnight, grandpa."

The next morning Calum got up for work around 6am - but could not find Alesha in bed.

He alerted his family adding: "We searched under beds, in wardrobes, but there was no sign of her anywhere."

Calum soon took to the streets of Bute to look for Alesha.

He eventually spotted police tape at an area cordoned off.

An officer was keeping guard at a stairs heading towards the island's former Kyles Hydropathic Hotel.

Mr McSporran: "Did you assume anything?"

Calum: "On seeing a paramedic running up and down stairs, I assumed they had found something... Alesha or someone else."

The family begged for information before being told to go the local police station.

An emotional Calum then recalled: "We were put into a room.

"Five minutes later, a police officer said: 'We have found her, but that she had passed...'."

At that point, prosecutor Mr McSporran told Calum: "Take a moment to compose yourself."

His wife Angela King, 47 - Alesha's gran - later described the child as a "beautiful, beautiful happy girl".

She remembered her husband pleading with police during the hunt for the girl.

Calum had said: "If that's my grand-daughter up there, I want to know."

She was later asked by the boy's QC Mr McConnachie of being aware of her son Robert's apparent drug dealing.

Angela replied: "He never admitted it, but I had my suspicions."

Jurors were earlier shown photos of Alesha's naked body after it was discovered in woodland.

Clothes were also found close to the six year-old's remains.

A pair of 'inside-out' jogging bottoms and boxer shorts were discovered separately at a beach area.

The trial, before Lord Matthews, continues.