Alesha MacPhail: Phone belonging to murder suspect was used to google 'how do police find DNA', court hears

Teenager stands trial accused of child's rape and murder

The man suspected of raping and murdering six-year-old Alesha MacPhail owned a phone which was used to google "how do police find DNA", a court has heard.

Alesha was found dead on 2 July 2018 in woodland on the Isle of Bute.

The High Court in Glasgow also heard evidence that fibres on clothes found by the island's shoreline were "indistinguishable" from those found on the child's clothes, which were discovered discarded near her body.

Peter Benson, the cyber crime team leader at Police Scotland, said the phone's internet history showed it had been used to search "how do police find DNA" at 12.32am on 3 July, the day after Alesha's body was found.

Mr Benson said the search would be "something you type in".

A minute later the internet history shows a page on collecting DNA evidence, which Mr Benson said indicated "the person using the phone has gone to one of the hits".

The 16-year-old accused of killing the child cannot be named for legal reasons.

He gave a "no comment" response during a police interview after being arrested on 4 July and was later charged with Alesha's murder.

The teenager has lodged a special defence of incrimination, blaming Toni McLachlan - the girlfriend of Alesha's father Robert MacPhail - for the killing.

Ms McLachlan denies the allegation.

Mr Benson was asked in court whether the accused had communicated with Ms McLachlan through Instagram.

"I can say there was no indication of that at all," he said.

"There's no Instagram communication on the phone between them. What's on the internet, I can't help you with."

He added that he was unable to access Instagram messages which were only online.

Giving evidence earlier in the trial, Ms McLachlan had rejected suggestions from Brian McConnachie QC, who is representing the accused, that she had been in contact with the teenager in the early hours of 2 July.

The lawyer suggested the pair had messaged, met and had sex in a shed, before Ms McLachlan took Alesha from her room, "attacked and brutalised her" and "planted" the accused's semen from the condom used earlier, before murdering the child.

Ms McLachlan denied all the allegations.

She told jurors she "loved" Alesha and had nothing to do with her death.

Sarah Jones, a forensic scientist, also gave evidence on the sixth day of the trial.

She told the court that her studies showed a total of 69 black and grey fibres from jogging trousers and boxers recovered from the shoreline on the island were "indistinguishable" from those found on Alesha's clothes.

She said this was "strong evidence" these fibres were from the clothes recovered from the shoreline, earlier said by the accused's mother to "look like" the teenager's.

The 16-year-old denies Alesha's abduction, rape and murder and also denies trying to hide evidence.

The trial continues.

Additional reporting by agencies