Boy, 16, accused of killing six-year-old Alesha MacPhail 'told police "no ...

The 16-year-old boy accused of raping and killing six-year-old Alesha MacPhail replied 'no comment' when charged with murder, a court heard today.

Alesha was found naked lying face down in woodland near an abandoned hotel on the Isle of Bute on July 2 last year, hours after being reported missing from her grandparents' house.

The teen accused of murder, rape, child abduction and defeating the ends of justice denies all the charges against him at the High Court in Glasgow.

Giving evidence, Detective Constable Ian Wilson told the trial that when the accused was charged with murder, he replied 'no comment'.

The accused was granted access to a lawyer, the detective confirmed. He was present during police interview and taking statements.

The court heard that officers who searched the house the accused shared with his mother, retrieved a knife block containing Jamie Oliver-branded kitchen knives. 

Detective Constable Graham McIlwraith told the court that he recovered four knives, but there was space for five.

Mr McIlwraith said: 'It seemed reasonable that a knife might be missing and that could be important.'

Witness Karen MacBride, a fingerprint examiner with the Scottish Police Authority, told the court that fingerprints belonging to the accused had been found on the MacPhail property - but it was not possible to date them.

She took fingerprints from the stairwell leading to the MacPhail family home, where prints from the accused's right palm were discovered on July 11, above

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