Aaron Campbell

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Aaron Campbell Full Name: Aaron Thomas Campbell Origin: Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England Occupation: YouTuber (formerly) Hobby: Making videos on YouTube Drinking and partying Smoking cannabis Goals: Kill Alesha MacPhail and get away with it (failed) Crimes: Murder Kidnapping Rape Arson Necrophilia Type of Villain: Young Murderer

Aaron Thomas Campbell (born May 7, 2002) is an English convicted murderer currently serving a life sentence for the abduction and murder of 6-year old Alesha MacPhail on July 2, 2018.

Biography

Early life

Aaron Thomas Campbell was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England on 7 May 2002. He moved to the Isle of Bute when he was four or five years old with his mother Janette, father Christopher, and a younger sister.

Campbell's upbringing included elements of physical and emotional abuse, and he often argued with his alcoholic mother. He was tested for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and had a history of self harming and depression. 

Campbell attended Rothesay Academy and was popular among his friends, with whom he regularly drank alcohol and attended parties. He was fit and active, while also keen on gaming; he wished to be a YouTube star and posted several videos to the website.

When he was aged 15, Campbell began to consider "doing something excessive" such as rape. In 2017, he sent a Facebook message saying that he "might kill 1 day for the lifetime experience". He was entered into a rehabilitation programme when he was caught starting fires.

Campbell was acquainted with Robert MacPhail and Toni McLachlan, and claimed to have had a casual sexual relationship with McLachlan in the winter of 2017, although McLachlan denies this. He purchased cannabis from the couple on multiple occasions, but these interactions ceased in early 2018 following a disagreement and intervention from Campbell's mother.

The murder

On the evening of July 1, 2018, 16 year-old Campbell invited fifteen friends to his house, where he became drunk. The party finished before midnight, but at 00:30 on 2 July, a friend returned and found Campbell in bed and "suicidal". 

Campbell claimed, "I was quite upset as my mum had been arguing with me most of the night." The friend was "quite worried for him" and offered to stay over, but Campbell declined and said he was going to "get stoned".He sent messages to several people asking if they were available to sell him cannabis, including Robert MacPhail. At 01:47 and 01:48 he called McLachlan but received no response.

Intending to steal cannabis, Campbell left his house at 01:54 armed with a kitchen knife. He entered the MacPhail property, roughly a five-minute walk away, where Alesha's room was closest to the front door. When he found the sleeping girl, Campbell saw a "moment of opportunity", later claiming, "All I thought about was killing her once I saw her."

He lifted a drowsy Alesha from her bed, left the house without anyone noticing, and walked with her along the ocean shore. The child awoke in his arms during this walk and asked who he was; Campbell replied that he knew her father and was taking her home. He carried Alesha to a secluded location then raped and murdered her. He threw his clothes into the sea, went home for a shower, then returned to the murder site to retrieve his phone.

Aftermath and legal proceedings

Police Scotland charged Campbell with abduction, rape and murder on 5 July 2018. He denied any involvement and pleaded "not guilty" when his trial began on 11 February 2019. He logged a "special defence of incrimination" by claiming that Robert's girlfriend, Toni McLachlan, was responsible for murdering the child and framing him. Campbell was tied to the crime by CCTV footage, DNA, and fibres from his clothing, and the jury returned a guilty verdict after three hours of deliberation. A ban on publicly naming Campbell was lifted following his conviction.

On 21 March 2019, he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 27 years; subsequently reduced to 24 years on appeal. He confessed to the crime before his sentencing, adding that he was "quite satisfied with the murder".